Thread: Letting the edge rest

I've read a few places (in the documents in the Help section) that it is recommended to let a razor rest for a few days between shaves. The same documents also say that you should not strop the razor after shaving since this might damage the strop because of the edge being slightly damaged after the shaving.

Could someone explain why this is not valid advice (I get the impression that nobody here follows these "rules").

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Alf

I normally strop a razor after every shave and have done so for years without problems. I have also used the same razor daily for weeks without problem or any loss of edge. Like alot of advice, everyone really needs to find out what works best for them.

Good Luck.

Lynn

Just out of curiousity, why do you strop after the shave when you're (probably) stropping before the next shave...

Originally Posted by alfborge

Just out of curiousity, why do you strop after the shave when you're (probably) stropping before the next shave...

I'm not sure why Lynn does it, but I do it to both clean the edge, and make sure it's absolutely dry before putting it away. Carbon steel razor edges will microscopically degrade due to corrosion, if moisture is left on the edge. I suspect (outside the fact that he's the best razor honer around) that one of the reasons he gets so much life out of a razor before rehoning, is that his edges don't degrade due to corrosion.

Originally Posted by alfborge

I've read a few places (in the documents in the Help section) that it is recommended to let a razor rest for a few days between shaves. The same documents also say that you should not strop the razor after shaving since this might damage the strop because of the edge being slightly damaged after the shaving.

Alf

The problem with a lot of recommendations is that as soon as someone with some authority recommends something others follow suit and pass the recommendations on. Soon such a recommendation is considered as rock solid truth. I have experienced same in gardening, medicine, technique etc. Some think that small burr particles on the cutting edge of the razor caused during a shave will fall back into their old place with rest.

I've picked up a couple of the old 7-day sets. One of the old sets with ivory handles is what I mostly use for shaving now. These sets allow for the blade to rest and re-align for a week before it was used again.

When I first started my experiments with shaving I bought a new Dovo. I shaved with it every day for a month or so before I used the "resting" theory to justify buying another Dovo, with contrasting handle color. My plan was that I would use the dark handle on odd days, and the light handle on even days.

I shaved that way, alternating blades, for another month or so. To be honest, I didn't notice any difference. Then I started buying the old antiques, and from that time I never had the luxury of even imagining that my blades were not getting enough rest between uses.

It's a good theory if you want an excuse to buy another razor. It sounds really scientific to the wife if you talk about steel elasticity and micro-realignment.

I was told by my old barber, Jim (who stropped after shaving to realign the edge) that the razor needed to rest for the rest of that day and it would be good to go the next morning. I strop after the shave about a dozen passes on brushed leather these days, and have used the same razor for sequential days without noticing any problems.

X

I think one of the problems is that much of the information we use to make our decisions on involving straights is based on what I call old barbers tales. Because someones friends cousins barber told him to do it one way everyone must now follow suit. You have to experiment and do things the way it works for you not the way it worked for some old barber. A few months ago I did a post comparing alot of this stuff to lemmings, you know those animals that follow each other off the cliff every few years. We shouldn't be like them. I know many people say when you are starting out you need gereralized advice on how to do things, and thats true but you should always question the same advice and look to improve and adapt something lemmings don't do.

I can tell you my own compromise on this: first I dry the blade and scales gently with a towel, keeping the towel off the blade's edge. Once all visible drops of water are gone, I strop the blade gently for just five easy passes on the leather. The blade then sits open on my dresser for a while before I close it up.

The idea is to dry the micro-serrations, preventing corrosion, but also to do as little violence as possible to those micro-serrations that have been bent askew by shaving.

That's what I do, too.