Shave Time and Stropping frequency

Hey, just a few quick questions. I'd put them in the newb category, but I don't know if many straight-shavers visit there.

Does anyone else get shaves under 30 minutes yet? From strop through prep, to my 3rd pass it took me almost exactly 30 minutes, not including cleanup.
I'm sure people do, but I'm only on my 7th shave (in about ten minutes) and am still looking for a good shave more than a fast shave. I got BBS in one spot yesterday. Still pondering trying to use my left hand for half my face.

Also, should I be/not be stropping daily? I'm under the impression I should be. I have the filly strop from ruprazor, treated with some .5um diamond paste.
I've been doing a few laps on the smooth side, then 5 laps (1=out+back) on the suede side.

Thanks,
William

Strop daily, strop correctly, and strop a lot. I can do a 3 pass in about 15 and if I shaved the day before, a XTG and ATG in about 10. The time will come.

I'm assuming that both sides of the strop are not treated with CrOx. You should strop with the non-treated side every day, about 50 laps, and the treated side only occasionally, maybe once every two weeks (5-10 laps).

OH! Glad I asked.

I've been doing 10 laps on the side with the diamond paste per day.
The other side is smooth, finished leather.
Sounds good! Add a little more prep time though, haha. I think I can easily fit in a 30-35 minute shave. A DE shave would take about 20 anyway, so no big difference to me.

Thanks

WilliamIam said:

Does anyone else get shaves under 30 minutes yet?

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Sure. The shaving part is probably less than 10 minutes for me. Don't be in a hurry on this, safety and shave quality is more important than speed. It'll speed up eventually.

WilliamIam said:

Also, should I be/not be stropping daily? I'm under the impression I should be. I have the filly strop from ruprazor, treated with some .5um diamond paste.
I've been doing a few laps on the smooth side, then 5 laps (1=out+back) on the suede side.

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I'm not sure on your strop which side is pasted and which side is plain, but you should be stropping daily on the non-pasted side of the strop for 20-50 laps. Only use the pasted side when the razor starts getting a little dull.

From the time I start making lather to the time I rinse it out of the brush, an wtg-xtg-atg shave takes about 15 minutes. That includes stropping, 25 laps on linen and 50 on leather.

I'd recommend not using pastes every day. While it may not harm the edge, why remove metal unnecessarily?

Ah. Sorry for the lack of info.
The paste is on the suede side (the side with dangly bits, not the smooth side) of the full grain leather.
I was under the impression that stropping on the side that is smooth is not very effective.

Just for the record, the strop came pasted, I didn't add anything to it.

no harm done.

I strop ~20 on linen then ~60 on leather, all up takes abut 30 mins for a three pass shave

It's only necessary to strop on that green stuff when you feel the razor needs a touch up. 5-10 laps will usually do the job. By the way, that paste is chromium oxide, not diamond, FWIW

On the smooth side, you should ideally strop before every shave. How many laps is up to you. I usually do 50 after I've done 25 laps on a cloth component. Between 30 and 60 seems to be the consensus by guys that know a hell of a lot more than I do. An experiment was done on another site and the conclusion was that doing any more than 60 didn't really do anything extra as far as steel alignment is concerned.

The cloth is important, IMO, and you may want to think about making one up for yourself. Denim will work just fine if you have an old, sacrificable pair of jeans around. Or hell, just put on a pair of jeans, ensure an area of them is reasonably flat, and strop away.

As far as shaving time is concerned, don't be too caught up with it. Learning technique takes time. To answer your question, though, a "modest-paced" shave for me is around 15 minutes.

When I first began I would strop about 100 times. Now that didn't mean 100 times was technique perfect but figured I'd get about 60-70 laps in that made a difference. I would also strop my razor the night before so in case I may be running a little late.

Now I do about 15 linen, 20 on polishing paste and 50 leather, 5 minutes here.

Prep is quick 5 minutes on soap/cream, brush, stare at myself and make funny face. I do wtg, xtg, slice the grain pass on my neck and atg. I spend about 5 minutes alone on my chin. I have super thick whiskers on my chin and have to really go at it.

So shower, shave and dress in 45 minutes tops.

Under 30 minutes? Thats not fast. Under 5 is fast. If I only do a brief lightning strop and one pass, I can pull off a decent shave in under 5 minutes. But its not the best shave, but passable. The stropping really suffers though, I'll go back and do a ton of strops on the linen to make up for it.

WilliamIam said:

Also, should I be/not be stropping daily? I'm under the impression I should be. I have the filly strop from ruprazor, treated with some .5um diamond paste.
I've been doing a few laps on the smooth side, then 5 laps (1=out+back) on the suede side.

Click to expand...

Yes, strop daily. Can't over strop. You can strop badly and mess up the razor, but not over strop. Well, your arm will get sore and we'll think your weird, but the razor will be fine.


You don't use the rough side for daily stropping. Only the smooth leather and a linen strop.

I strop daily 50/50 linen(cloth) & leather. 2 or 3 pass shave for a relaxing 15 or 20 minutes of my day.

I'm probably on my 6th or 7th shave and between the shower, prep, and 2 pass shave I'm hogging the bathroom for a good 40-50 minutes.

I try to strop before and after my shave. I do 15-20 passes on the weaved nylon side and then 20-30 passes on the leather side.

I timed my weekend shave today. From 15 passes on my leather strop, through lather and one pass shave (WTG above the jaw bone and ATG under) took 6 minutes. I take my time lathering as it softens the beard and feels better while shaving.

Holy wow!

What a difference that smooth sided stropping made.
Shave today was all but no irritation, DFS all around (really!) and the blade was so much kinder to my face.
I was able to do my chin entirely with the straight, no DE.

I also got my MWF to lather right today (wow) and was working on two days of growth instead of one.

I can imagine a 5-10 minute shave, as this morning I only went with hot towel, then lathered and shaved. My main thing is that I am still adjusting every pass and eying things like it's a fairway.

Thanks for the advice, and I just had a pair of jeans shred themselves, so that might become my new strop. Separate threat for that if needed.

William