“Shave ready”

I’m relatively new to SR shaving. Today I moved from a Shavette to a Dovo Best. It came “Shave ready “ Should I strop before my next shave?

If it came Shave ready, don’t strop before your first shave. You will want to strop before every shave after that.

No, just shave with it. Most commercial "shave ready" razors are not really close to that fond hope. If it pulls and drags, without you having stropped it, then you know that you did not destroy the edge.
If so, then send it to a real hone person! There are some here in the vendor thread tht do a very good long lasting edge.
JMO
~Richard
PS. you know how to keep the blade angle close to your face from the shavette; remember that and only do your cheeks with the longer blade for a first go-round.. The blade is longer!

The term shave ready is VERY subjective. Most razors are sold as shave ready, although many of them are not. For example, Dovo advertises their blades as "shave ready" from the factory and some people agree, but many do not consider their edges to be shave ready.

If you purchased the razor from a reliable seller who hones the blades before shipment, then it may well be shave ready. I am pretty particular about my edges (tough, fast-growing beard, and sensitive skin), so I hone my own blades; but I do not hone blades for others. I have purchased some "shave ready" razors that gave great shaves out of the box and some that were not even close.

Thanks for your help. I’m wondering her often you hone

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Originally Posted by alschepis

Thanks for your help. I’m wondering her often you hone

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Basically you hone when it becomes necessary as in the blade starts to tug. The time between honing varies person to person. When you are just starting off you will need to have the blade honed more frequently than later on. That is simply because beginners dull blades faster because they do not have good shaving technique and their stropping is poor which dulls blades faster.

Bob

These guys are talking the truth for sure. I'd bet that the odds of you buying your razor from a place that hand hones them before shipping is very slim. It might shave fine for a few times but most likely will not last long. Where did you buy it from would be a good way for us to tell you if it really is shave ready?

I'd hold off on stropping until it starts to tug/pull. Then strop very carefully. Watch lots of stropping vids and good luck with your new Razor!

As with most things involving wet shaving with straight razors, how often you hone a razor is a very personal thing. Some people can maintain a razor for months using only a leather strop.

I will hone a razor and then polish the edge using very fine (as fine as 0.1 micron) abrasives. I will be able to maintain the edge for 2-3 shaves using leather strops and then will polish the edge with pasted strops again. After about 6 shaves, I will take it back to my finishing hone for about ten laps and then go back to the pasted strops.

As you age, your beard gets coarser and your skin gets thinner. As a senior citizen, I have a very tough beard and sensitive skin. So I want my edges to be both very sharp and very smooth. It takes extra effort to keep them that way, but the results are worth it for me. .