Confused about straight maintenance

[LegalEagle]

I am going to be taking the plunge into straights very shortly; however, I am confused about the different levels of honing.

I am under the impression--and please correct me if I'm wrong--that there are basically 2 levels of honing: honing to make the razor sharp and then stropping to keep the edge aligned. I, maybe incorrectly, thought that I could buy a shave-ready razor that has been honed by one of the guys around here. After that, the only maintenance it would require is daily stropping for a few months, at which time I would have to send it out to have it rehoned by a honemeister. Since I shave every other day, I was planning on just getting a couple shave-ready razors in order to not have to get them honed but every 6+ months.

But reading around on here, it seems as if people have three levels of honing: first, they hone their razors every few months, and in between those honings they use a smaller hone or a pasted strop to hone it again, and then they strop daily.

What is the proper way?

Thanks, gents.

 

[Thebigspendur]

There are several way to tackle this. Remember that everyone is different. Some guys can seemingly go a year with the same razor without having to rehone. I find with most razors after 10-15 shaves I notice a decease in the comfort level so its a matter of how much of this decrease I am willing to put up with before I rehone.

A touchup rehone can be done with a pasted strop or a hone. On a hone like a Coticule it should require a few minutes of honing and thats all. If you keep your razors sharp as long as you don't damage the edge you should never have to do major work like resetting bevels and all that. The real heavy duty honing is more for restoration when you buy an Eboy special or you drop your razor and nick the edge.

Stropping is done daily and helps dress up the edge but does nothing to actually sharpen the edge.

So if you buy a razor and have it honed you will strop daily and when required have to do a touchup hone or use a pasted strop. This might be monthly, every three months or every six months depending on your beard and your preferences.

 

[Amyn]

I think you have to categorize the str8 maintenance into a few separate categories.

1. Hones - is the process of restoring the edge on a razor (i.e. making it sharp)
A razor you purchase from Ebay or new will have to be honed to make the edge sharp and shave ready.

2. Strops - Stropping is aligning the edge of the razor to make it keen and smooth. You will have to strop the razor everytime before or after a shave.

3. Pasted Strops - you can periodically use a pasted strop to maintain the edge of the razor. Using pasted strops will help increase the time between Honing

Typically if you are planning on getting a couple of shave ready str8 you will have to simply strop them before you shave, and you are set.

You can invest in a pasted strop and use the pasted strop once every month to maintain the edge.

See the guide that Joel has created and it will answer most of your questions

 

[LegalEagle]

As always, those replies are exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for clearing up my confusion.

 

[gglockner]

I do not see that much confusion by what you are saying. I could only clarify like the rest have. Maintenance is keeping the razor in a keen condition to shave with. Restoration would be rebuilding the edge or repairing it. Once the razor is keen, only normal maintance is used to keep it in this condition. You will always have to strop a razor prior to shaving. Minor touch ups of the edge with a finishing hone or pasted strop will keep it in tip top shape. My favorite hone is a double grit barber hone. IMHO it can do it all from restoration to maintance. Besides having the two grits, when using the finish side you can use it dry, wet or with lather. This sort of gives you four hones in one.

Glen