Thread: Is "Resting a blade" complete bull?

Originally Posted by Phrank

LOL - it was explained to me once that a razor needs to, "fin" for 24 hours.

The analogy was to a fin on a fish, that after a shave the fin wasn't straight, and needed to return to a healthy state. Who knows?

From an old thread here and a quote from the Dovo factory:

"DOVO straight razors are whetted in the factory for use (whetting on leather by hand). If you own a suitable strop, you should nevertheless take into account that the razor must first "rest" after use. After the razor has been carefully rinsed and dried, it should not be used again for at least 24 - 48 hours because the fine "fin" on the cutting edge straightens up again extremely slowly. If the razor is stropped too soon (or stropped incorrectly by moving it backwards and forwards without turning it over), the "fin" which is necessary for a close shave breaks off. Between six and fifteen shaves are possible without stropping in between."

bend a paperclip back and forth repeatedly- what happens? it becomes brittle and breaks. we call it "work hardening." by the explanation above it sounds like a razor not allowed to "rest" can be subject to work hardening by stropping the fin back instead of allowing the fin to stand back up due to the molecule bonds in the steel itself(??????????) before stropping prior to the next shave. letting it "rest" itself back doesn't equate to work hardening the same as forcing it back by stropping prematurely. sounds reasonable, wish I were scientifically inclined, id love to know all the ins and outs of what is happening at that level.

Honestly, there's the theory and there's the practice.

We can argue the theory of metal realignment forever (and as I alluded to in an earlier post in this thread, seems we are well on the way...).

However, practice is what we do. Every day. The empirical evidence (which must be in the hundreds of thousands of man-hours) our collective membership has collected over the past 10 or so years of this Forum's life tells us that you can happily strop your razor immediately before and immediately after a shave with no ill effects.

I myself did a basic experiment on this early on (an unwitting experiment, but an experiment nonetheless). For about 5 years I only stropped before a shave, never after, which meant my rotation razors always had at least 3 days "rest" post shave. Then in recent years I started stropping pre and post shave, using the same razor for at least 5 weeks in a row (in fact, I've been shaving with this current razor for about 3 months every day, face and head). I've found no discernible difference between my old way or this current way in terms of edge longevity or shaving efficacy.

YMMV, but mine doesn't!

James.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

YMMV, but mine doesn't! James.

Reminds me of an educational researcher I once knew. Experiment after experiment and always an ecstatic joy when the results were + or - .001. He seem to say that if nothing changed then all was good. I guess continually proving that 2 + 2 = 4 is a valid way to make a living.

For some people not finding significant results (particularly in the social sciences) can be a cause for joy - I did research with a criminologist once who was very happy to observe no significant change in rates of crime over a 5 year period despite the introduction of a certain piece of legislation during that time...

Anyway, I didn't mean for that to suggest I am right and if you don't agree with me you are wrong, just that for me the data suggests there's no need to rest a razor between shaves.

James.

James, my own little experiment with shaving with the same razor everyday showed me that it maintained, or once or twice, seemed to be as sharp or a little sharper than when I started.

As with all things in life, there is a 360 degree view around every object and that makes for at least that many views if you don't start parsing the separate degrees.

Pardon my French, or lack of it, Viva la differance!

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

Reminds me of an educational researcher I once knew. Experiment after experiment and always an ecstatic joy when the results were + or - .001. He seem to say that if nothing changed then all was good. I guess continually proving that 2 + 2 = 4 is a valid way to make a living.

Or 3.999/4.001

I used the same razor for around 8 months daily and it was fine, did the occasional refresh and that's it. I would have thought that years ago most people wouldn't have a collection of razors and got a perfectly good shave.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Honestly, there's the theory and there's the practice.

We can argue the theory of metal realignment forever (and as I alluded to in an earlier post in this thread, seems we are well on the way...).

However, practice is what we do. Every day. The empirical evidence (which must be in the hundreds of thousands of man-hours) our collective membership has collected over the past 10 or so years of this Forum's life tells us that you can happily strop your razor immediately before and immediately after a shave with no ill effects.

I myself did a basic experiment on this early on (an unwitting experiment, but an experiment nonetheless). For about 5 years I only stropped before a shave, never after, which meant my rotation razors always had at least 3 days "rest" post shave. Then in recent years I started stropping pre and post shave, using the same razor for at least 5 weeks in a row (in fact, I've been shaving with this current razor for about 3 months every day, face and head). I've found no discernible difference between my old way or this current way in terms of edge longevity or shaving efficacy.

YMMV, but mine doesn't!

James.

Your personal experience and point regarding the experience of others here is definitely relevant - and helpful. Thank you