Apparently, gaining experience with a straight razor improves double edge skills

[smorgana]

back in the fall of 2022 i had been shaving quite a while with a double edge razor. my experience then was it was typically irritating but i liked it better than electric and disposable options for cost and environmental reasons.
i switched to straight razoring because its one razor and it will outlive me.

after about a year and a half i had gained a lot of experience but one day i picked up my DE razor, put a fresh blade, and shaved with it. it came out just as smooth as with my straights, so i shaved with that blade a few weeks before i needed to change the blade.

no nicks or irritation.

so does straight razoring train your face for general shaving better or does the experience transfer in technique to DE shaving?

 

[sanookd]

back in the fall of 2022 i had been shaving quite a while with a double edge razor. my experience then was it was typically irritating but i liked it better than electric and disposable options for cost and environmental reasons.
i switched to straight razoring because its one razor and it will outlive me.

after about a year and a half i had gained a lot of experience but one day i picked up my DE razor, put a fresh blade, and shaved with it. it came out just as smooth as with my straights, so i shaved with that blade a few weeks before i needed to change the blade.

no nicks or irritation.

so does straight razoring train your face for general shaving better or does the experience transfer in technique to DE shaving?

I think the biggest thing you learn is to use hardly any pressure. You develop a very light touch and learn to let the weight of razor whichever one you use do the work for you.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Mo’ definitely!

My office recently moved and I am back to a long commute and using a DE a few times a week. After using a straight, I can now use a DE with bar soap and get a decent one-pass shave with zero irritation.

 

[Kyle89]

You bet! Still not the greatest DE shaver but getting good with the SR really helped.

 

[Jakebullet]

It had the opposite effect on me.
I used a DE for a year and was getting great daily shaves.
Then I switched to a straight and after a month of practice was able to get even better shaves.
It’s been 5 or 6 years of straight shaving now but whenever I try a DE shave (maybe two or three times a year) I get a horrible shave.
Rough feeling and lots of weepers and not even all that close.
Probably due to a lack of practice but I almost never use a DE now.