Thread: How long to master the straight?

This is probably an unanswerable question but I am curious how long it took you to feel you had mastered straight razor shaving. I have been using a straight exclusively for seven months. I have definitely improved a great deal but still have a couple of problem areas that I can't seem to shave as close as I would like. Generally speaking, I feel I have crossed over to the other side and get good shaves. Just curious what other's experience has been.

At 31 years into it I still learn new things and find new tricks... I will let you know if I ever "Master" it

My experience has been pretty much the same as yours, dcaven. Straight shaving since January, still some problem areas, but steady improvement. I think that if I'd been expecting to 'master' it by now, it would have been frustrating, but instead I'm happy that it is getting better week by week - developing new techniques and getting better at the basics steadily. Definitely having fun!

DC, 'makes me really happy to hear the honorable 'gunner talk about what's yet to be learned, rather than how he has the topic by the tender bits. I can only echo that, still provoked and indignant that I still nick & cut (more than I think I ever should). An odd section w/ a cow-lick in a concave depression under the jaw-bone continues to defy bbs, etc. BTW, I'm one that thinks bbs is not possible for some, but that shave skills are the only possibility - and I'm not there on a couple sections.

If I step back and compare to any other method, the str8 still stands head & shoulders superior. 'Lasts longer, my skin is in better shape, the lovely bride is very happy w/ the results. There's just too many positives to let the remaining challenges sour me on the str8. Some of the issue is imagining that we could do better w/ another method. If you CAN do better w/ something else, it would tell me there's just a missing pc in the skillset (like mine) that still needs work. Either way, I enjoy shaving now and don't with anything else.

At about 100 shaves it kicked in for me. There were still a lot of learning experiences to come but the confidence was building. Mastering also includes learning about the side benefits such as , soap, scuttles, different razors, plst shave rituals etc.
Besides, it is a blast! Also is kind of like voodoo, friends just don't understand sometimes.

For me it's the journey, not the destination. In fact, I'm not at all sure what the destination is to be quite frank. Mastery (whatever that means) could be the destination I suppose - I'll leave that one up to those who care about such things. Me, I'll just dawdle along and enjoy the view.

James.

I started using a straight in January of this year. I read a lot and tried to learn as much as I could. A number of sources recommended just shaving the "cheeks" initially and then adding in more "areas." Another common rec was to shave on the weekends "when you have time." Then I ready it takes up to 50 to 100 "shaves" to be "profecient." Well, I didnt' want to wait a year to feel comfortably with a straight, so I "dove in head first" and starting shaving my entire face everyday. After 11 months, I feel very comfortable with a straight, although I know I still have a long way to go. I get a very clean, close shave and truly enjoy my morning routine rather than dreading the "task" of shaving.

Originally Posted by dcaven

This is probably an unanswerable question but I am curious how long it took you to feel you had mastered straight razor shaving. I have been using a straight exclusively for seven months. I have definitely improved a great deal but still have a couple of problem areas that I can't seem to shave as close as I would like. Generally speaking, I feel I have crossed over to the other side and get good shaves. Just curious what other's experience has been.

I won’t boast that I’ve mastered it. But if you’re asking how long it took before I was getting the best damn shaves of my life? Well, not as long as you’d think. It took about two months to get to where I was with a DE. And I was going slowly, just doing part of my face and mostly saving it for the weekend. My two problem areas persist, the base of my neck on either side of my adams apple. But I will tell you that every form of shaving has been challenged by this area. The only solution that has proven to be of any help has been to apply greater pressure than is advisable with a SR. It has been and continues to be a lot of fun. Much like food/cooking, the nice thing about an interest like this is that you get to entertain it constantly. You need a shave every day or every other day. So you don’t have to wait too long to employ a new trick, test the new edge on your razor, or try a new product.

Makes me wonder how men and boys faired 120 yrs ago when using a straight was the only game in town.If they wanted to be clean shavin,they HAD to learn how to shave (I dougbt that back than they looked at it as an art)
To the OP,Master shaveing with the straight?? 6 mos at least,But if you go nuts,the shaving part of your brain will go nutz also.
Most newbs ( after a couple Mos.) will have 8 razors,7 Brushes,15 soaps and creams,all manner of potions,Than they get a brain freeze and they start going backwards,called info overload,They are in a quest for the silver bullit,Than all progress stops.Keep it simple and you will succeed,after all you did get potty trained,learned how to tie your shoes and brush your teeth.Enjoy the journey,keep it simple.

I thought I had "mastered" shaving only about a year into it, maybe less. But, I feel it took many years before I mastered honing and stopping. After about 5 years I developed a real sense of what to do with a strop in order to improve an edge. I also slowly concluded that after the first year I really did have a good idea of what I was doing, but I only admitted it to myself after searching for improvement for several years, without success.

I always assumed there was a better shave out there, only to eventually conclude that hot towels and 10 minutes of prep in the old days wasn't so much about pampering as necessity.