Thread: Trouble with shaving lastnight

I am hoping someone can help me here please. Last night I went to have a shave with one of my collection of razors which had just come back from being honed and sharped. I got my face ready hot towel, pre shave face oil etc and then went ahead and started to shave both side of the face seemed to go well but when it came to do neck etc it did not seemed to cut the hair it looked like the blade was blunt. I tried with the grain and ATG on the neck did not cut. So tried a other razor same thing. I looked at the blade on the one which had just been honed & put my thumb along the edge it did not feel as sharp. as it did from the start of the shave Now I am no expert with this straight razor lark but before using the razor I did strop it about 40 times the razor is a 1000 blade and i had 4 days beard growth. Now i don't know if it is the angle I am using is wrong or stropping the razor before use as it just come back from been honed & sharpened and should of not done that. ( would of that dulled the blade ? ) and will I have to send back to be re honed? I know this much I had to finish the shave with a D/E One last thing how often do you strop while having a shave?

I am rather new to the straight razor adventure myself, but I strop 30-50 times before each shave, and 20 linen/30 leather after every shave. Then I oil the razor and store it away in its box. I have been following this method since I started day one, and haven't had any problems thus far. All three of my razors have been professionally honed before (my Wade and Butcher and Henckels done by Larry AKA WhippedDog.com, and the Dovo I got from my brother I simply did 10 x-strokes on my barbers hone... obviously it was professionally honed during his ownership and he took good care of it before gifting it to me).

As for why your blade is dulling so quickly, my only guess off the top of my head is improper stropping technique? How long have you been using straights? From your post it sounds like you should know what you're doing, so I don't want to come off as offensive to you in any sort of way by stating what I think you may be doing wrong... Especially since I am still rather "noobish" myself.

Hi thanks for answering My Q so quick I am also new to all this My leather strop is a "Big Daddy" from shaving supplies and it is English bridle I think I am stropping Ok have looked at the videos showing how to do it and once i have Stropped the edge of the blade feels sharp it is only after I shave with part of the way does it seems to lose its edge I know it is not the guy who honed and sharpened it for me as the guy who does it at "Invisible Edge" is a expert and a genius when it comes to straight razors. I should be able to be able to go though a 3 way shave without having to strop again shouldn't I ?

Originally Posted by ECD

Hi thanks for answering My Q so quick I am also new to all this My leather strop is a "Big Daddy" from shaving supplies and it is English bridle I think I am stropping Ok have looked at the videos showing how to do it and once i have Stropped the edge of the blade feels sharp it is only after I shave with part of the way does it seems to lose its edge I know it is not the guy who honed and sharpened it for me as the guy who does it at "Invisible Edge" is a expert and a genius when it comes to straight razors. I should be able to be able to go though a 3 way shave without having to strop again shouldn't I ?

Yes. There is no need to strop a razor mid-shave. At least I've never heard of it nor have I ever done it myself personally.

You'll have experts chime in soon enough and sort out what's going wrong for you.

Right I have just done what you do on a rather old razor I used both the Fabric strop 20 times and again on the leather side 40/50 times and just touching the edge of the blade it is very sharp like I said before that when I start shaving it goes though a 4 day growth like knife tough butter you can feel the sharpness but after doing one side of my face the sharpness seems to fall off Thanks for the help anyway P.S. I think it might be me and the angle i use or not putting enough pressure on

Question- Are you using a different hand for each side? I tend to do the right side of my face first, since I am right-handed. Then I use my left hand for the left side. Perhaps you are switching sides and hands as well and you're just not used to it yet? I am fortunate in that I have found I can use my left hand or just use my right hand for the entire face. I was very uncomfortable at first using my left but quickly got used to it. You may just need more practice in getting used to it. If that is the issue that is causing your trouble, of course.

No that's not the problem I do the same as you No trouble used to shaving with my left and right hand

Normally I don't think you should need to re strop a razor in the midst of a shave. I stop before a shave, 20 on hard felt(don't have linen) and 60 on leather. The razor is only cutting the hair diameter not it's length so I don't think a number of days growth should matter too much. If you are new to straight razor shaving and stropping there is the possibility that you did dull the blade by stropping it because of poor technique. That is why it is advised not to strop a blade freshly back from being professionally honed. That way you get to feel what a sharp freshly honed blade shaves like and if it shaves much less well on the second shave after you strop it you will then know that you need to improve your stropping technique. If you have dulled the blade by stopping it you may be able to bring it back with 100 or so stops on leather, from what I have read. In the end if all else fails you may have to get it re honed. There could also be other reasons for that particular razor dulling faster than it should but that is for an expert to say.

Bob

Thanks BobH but when i have stropped like they say in the videos which I have done the blade feels relly sharp after i stropped it I cant see where I am going wrong I have not nicked my strop yet so it has to be me then in some way IBut I dont know where The trouble is i have now stroped all of my razors even the ones that i have had payed to be honed Oh God! i will have to pay to have them honed all over again!! ( I was told that I had to strop them before using the razor)

Normally, you strop before you shave, 25 linen, and 50 leather. You can change that up as you want, but it's a good baseline. Some guys like to strop the razor again, when they're finished shaving and I've heard of guys stopping mid shave and stropping, but it's certainly not needed.

As far as your neck goes, The angle changes drastically when you get there, so you need to be aware of that and make adjustments. That could be part of the problem. Also, make sure your stretching your skin properly, that will help too...

It's hard to say without checking the razor myself. You'd be surprised. I've honed up razors and finished them on Jnats, quite sharp, passes HHT, but for some reason will leave stubble on the ATG pass. For me, I had to use another finisher on that blade. I even had a friend who's an expert with Jnats check it, and he got the same results....So you just never know.....

Cheers....