Thread: On razor rotation and resting

Fellow shavers, I have gotten a variety of responses and tales when asking this question. I usually rotate my razors so they get 72 hours between each use. The idea is to give them time to "rest." It was my understanding (and maybe I'm wrong) that this was the original reason behind 7 day sets. Rotate through a different razor each day until you get back to the first. Recently however, a fellow shaver suggested that barbers only used 7 day sets so they could sharpen them all at once and would frequently use the same razor repeatedly for weeks at a time. What do you guys think? Am I foolish to rest my razors through a 72 hour rotation?

I have never heard any evidence that resting does anything to the razor. It's been discussed a fair bit; perhaps a search will show you some old threads.

7 day sets I am not so sure were marketed for Barbers.. They were AFAIK more for "Gentlemen" originally, and then more as Collectables..

There were also 2,3 & 4 razors sets

As Holli said "No proof", but it does work as a really good excuse to have at least 7 razors

after 7 days the memory of exactly how sharp that razor was begins to fade.... and with a rotation of 7 razors it will be a long time until you need to hone.

Hi Lejeune, when do you strop? Is it before or after your shave? There was a discussion on the stropping forum that 'resting' the edge makes for a better shave, that is strop after your shave and not immediately before it to allow the blade to rest. I was speculating there that this might allow the edge to undergo 'age hardening' where metal can harden further after working (stropping). It's all theoretical, but could account for the benefits of a seven day rotation (or even 2!). Have you noticed any difference if you just stick to one razor for a few days rather than rotating?

Concerning the fact that razors of a seven-day-set mostly are marked "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday"... does not speak for the barber's theory.
A seven day set surely was a luxurious thing as Glen pointed out. Most people probably had one or two razors and that's probably fine.

I have, however read a post - somewhere here - saying that they actually watched the burr recovering to some extent, when giving it some time of rest.
If that would be a fact, I wonder, if it is then a good thing to strop the blade after shaving.

I really can't say if it belongs more to "fables and myths"... But Glen was right, it is at least a good excuse for more razors.

Thinking about it, to be really sure that my burrs feel well, I should establish a 365 day rotation, yes 365 sounds safe enough.

7 day sets were marketed to upscale clients. Purely a luxury item.

Barbers owned a few razors and kept them sitting in barbicide and used the same ones over and over each day.

That rest thing is another old barber's tale.

The longer you let your razors rest, the more razors you need to buy. This is a wonderful example of the means justifying the end. So, as you can imagine, I'm a firm believer in letting each and every razor have a nice long rest.

I have used razors that I've rested for over a year with no discernible difference except they had developed a small pot belly near the heel.

Originally Posted by Apis

Hi Lejeune, when do you strop? Is it before or after your shave? There was a discussion on the stropping forum that 'resting' the edge makes for a better shave, that is strop after your shave and not immediately before it to allow the blade to rest. I was speculating there that this might allow the edge to undergo 'age hardening' where metal can harden further after working (stropping). It's all theoretical, but could account for the benefits of a seven day rotation (or even 2!). Have you noticed any difference if you just stick to one razor for a few days rather than rotating?

I always strop before I shave. I will sometimes strop after, just as part of the drying process. And I have noticed a little more pulling if I've been using the same razor for several days at a time. I do not hone, although I should learn. The guy that does my honing for me was the one that originally told me to rest razors for 48-72 hours.