Thread: Question about CrOx and touch ups.

Gentlemen,

I have encountered something that I have not encountered before, and I hope that some of the more senior shavers will be able to shed some light on this.

I own two SRD's a PI with hard felt, and a PIV with webbing. I also own a filly covered in CrOx. After reading that the hard felt works very well with Crox, I sprayed some of the SRD bottle on it, let it dry, etc. The reason I've done this is that the "touchups" on the filly didn't seem to be "touchups" at all. There was no difference in the razor.

So, a couple days a go I took two razors to the felt on the PI. Did 8 laps on the Crox, and then stropped normally (35 web, 35 PIV, 35 PI).

I opened one of the razors this morning and shaved with it, and it felt much more dull than it did before. I pulled out the loupe to look for a jagged edge or a rolled one. No such thing.

Nothing changed in the stropping, except for the CrOx. Beard prep and lather were consistent too.

Is it possible (??) that 8 laps is too much, and that my razors need one or two shaves to get back to normal? The same way that the first shave with a DE blade is sometimes the worst?

Thanks for the help, and happy Monday. Only four more days until the weekend!

Maxi

If you applied too much paste its quite easy to overcook the edge, or if the razor was basically shave ready and you uised a paste that could have a detrimental effect on the edge as well. Its also possible that you dulled the edge with poor stropping, either on the pasted strop or your daily one. Its easy to do..!

When you say the razor was dull do you mean it wasnt removing hair? Or did the edge feel harsh on your skin?

Try doing lots of stropping strokes on your daily strop (like 100 or something) and see if that brings the edge back. Its possible to sometimes strop an edge back to life.

Chro2 will not dull the edge. doesn't matter 8 laps or 50. it is very fine and takes more time to sharpen(kind a ) edge.
if you are saying razor edge dulled Stuart is right about the reasons and how to fix.
(i hope you made back strokes )
gl

Stubear,

It felt harsh on the skin. Similar to the way a razor feels when you're honing it and it needs one or two more conservative pyramids.

I've not had an issue stropping before, which is why I posted the question to begin with. I've been able to keep all my blades completely sharp and comfortable.

Thanks,
Maxi

Harsh on the skin can mean a few things. Either the blade isnt honed enough and feels rough as a result, its been honed with too much pressure which has left a rough edge or it has been overhoned and the edge has failed slightly.

All of these things will lead to a rough feeling edge and a poor shave.

From what you say about it feeling similar to needing more honing, I would start out doing 10 light X strokes on the 8k and go from there. Be sure to give it a good stropping as well!

From the sound of it, my comment might not be relevant, but I'll share it.

When I started honing, and actually got a razor right, I was amazed that it did not "feel sharp" on my face. I swiped it down my cheek and thought, "Was that the spine or the edge?" But the clean swipe, the whiskers in the lather on the blade, all meant the razor was shaving. It was my first experience of a truly "smooth" razor that I'd honed myself. What I had previously thought "felt sharp" was actually an edge that was not ready to shave with.

From what you say, this likely is not your issue, but for me, it felt wrong when I actually had finally got it right!

"Was that the spine or the edge?" But the clean swipe, the whiskers in the lather on the blade, all meant the razor was shaving. It was my first experience of a truly "smooth" razor that I'd honed myself"

Good stuff !…and how did you achieve that exactly ?

That was five years ago. Not sure that member is around much anymore.

wot a pity. perhaps you could help I'm at roughly the 8 month mark of straight razor shaving and i'm still chasing the really smooth shave i hear so much about here and other forums. i only have one razor and it's a vintage sheffield steel made in solingen. i've tried many combinations of honing and touching up… made my own strops, used pastes on leather…no paste on leather or linen etc etc. it strikes me though that whatever i do after an 8k honing is never really that significant. crox and stropping for ages and all that never seems to give me an awesomely smooth shave. so with that i've had the "why don't you get a 12k naniwa" question nagging at me for some time, so i guess what i'm asking is……. Is the 12k nani finish going to give me the ultimately significant level of shave that everyone bangs on about?….for nearly £70, i should co co!! i'm pretty happy with the shave i've achieved in just 8 mths and mostly my shaves are pretty comfortable but i'm guessing you know what this stuff is like eh? It's obsessive! or at least i am. I guess the other question is,..Have i already achieved the best edge i can for this blade? i simply don't have the spare cash to get another blade or a new "shave ready" blade to compare it too. cooer! what a perplexing dilemma with financial insecurity thrown in… i may never know Slight irony here in asking a big spender . what dya reckon anyway?

Ah, the chase for the perfect shave dream. Everyone's been there. If you've never had a pro honed razor send it out for reference, its worth the outlay, however what I, you, Lynn, Glen, or our very own Neil Miller can achieve is very different. All I can say is the edges/shaves I have now with my own honing are very different from when I first started.
PS. I have the naniwa 10k and have never felt the need to go for the 12k although a gokumyo 20k is hard to beat....