How Long Have You Been Shaving With a Straight & How Long Does It Take You To Shave?

[Scissors]

I'm curious to know just what the title of the thread says:

• How long have you been shaving with a straight?
• How long does your typical straight shave take now?

I've been shaving with straights since November of last year, and while the shaves have gotten better, the time has so far stayed the same: about forty minutes for three passes.

Last I looked Klarion is under ten minutes! Not sure where Luc is.

Also, be curious to know from those with more than a few years behind them (e.g., professorchaos, richmondesi, leighton, etc) how long it took them to shave when they were starting out.

Thanks!

 

[Zenas]

I've been shaving for about a month now and I probably go about 20-25 minutes total. I only do two passes though.

 

[SiBurning]

6 months 25 minutes prep & cleanup included

 

[davecmu]

I've been using a straight razor almost exclusively since March 09, and I regularly do two passes in about 10 minutes, including lather, strop, pass, pass. The dilly-dallying afterward with the rinse and choosing and applying the various splashes or balms is really just faceturbation, so I don't regularly count it.

Here is a video of me with the Ellis World's Most Traveled Razor. The passes begin at the 0:40 mark and end at 3:40, and the video is sped up 2x, so six minutes for two passes with a lathering up in the middle. Prior to that, I had done an initial face lather and let it rest on my beard while stropping to soften whiskers with the stearic acid.

[YOUTUBE]KK-aMKyepoQ[/YOUTUBE]

This is an irritation-free, nick-free shave routine that I do every day.

 

[Hawkeye5]

Three years and I shave in the evening just so I don't have to rush, plus I'm not a morning person and decided I really didn't need to be waving a sharp blade around my face while still groggy.
Time? Well, I do the whole nine yards each and every evening. Wash face, massage lather into beard, hot towel, so thirty minutes from warming the water to clean up.

 

[Chimensch]

I've been shaving with a straight for 30 years. I've never timed my shave but, when I do three passes, I'm in and out of the bathroom in 30 minutes, including shower, shave, flossing and brushing my teeth and applying deodorant, so maybe 15 minutes of shaving.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I soak while showering so 0min
5-10 mins after that.


Been with a straight about 4 months.

 

[Klarion]

I'm curious to know just what the title of the thread says:

• How long have you been shaving with a straight?
• How long does your typical straight shave take now?

...

Last I looked Klarion is under ten minutes! Not sure where Luc is.
!

OOh, we got a mention! Looking at my first "shaving" post, I started September 26, 2009, which makes it just a little over 4 months.

My shave this morning took 16 minutes. That time runs from when I first dipped my brush into my tub of soap, rinsing my face off and applying after shave, to when I finished stropping after my shave. Judging by how I nicked one of my horsehide strops the other day (okay, so it was a chunk), I'd say the quality of shaving technique is better than my stropping. Strops don't heal, darn it!

 

[richmondesi]

The only time it matters to me is if I'm in a hurry, which invariably means I need a shower and shave

From shower to cleanup and leaving the room (dressed) is about 20-25 min. (started in January)

 

[professorchaos]

Over two years. If I am hurrying, which I'd rather not do, a 3 pass BBS shave takes about 10 minutes from lathering to alum - that includes stropping, 30 on the linen and 60 on the leather. Last time I overslept, yesterday, it took 8 minutes. When I don't oversleep and don't rush, the same process takes about 25 minutes.

Took a while before the shaves got reliably under 20-30 minutes. But generallly speaking, the shaves kept getting better and better. IIRC - progress comes in waves. You'll plateau and idle for a while, then have some epiphany which speeds things up. Likewise, you may go down a less productive path which results in inferior and/or slower shaves for a bit.

 

[Leche]

Just about a year of straight shaving. If I'm in a hurry about 10-15 minutes for a 2 pass shave(XTG/ATG). Add about 2 minutes for a WTG pass. This includes face lather, strop, shave, and a quick clean up. I don't very often try to go that fast though.

 

[Antique Hoosier]

Going on 2 years now and I can take as long or as little time as I desire at this point. I'm dedicated to only straight shave for the forseeable future.

 

[Bart]

I started straight razor shaving in 2007.
A quick shave takes me about 10 minutes. That includes lathering soap on my face, allow that to soften the beard while I strop the razor, spend a few extra seconds reworking the lather on my face, one pass WTG, relather, second pass ATG, rinse with cold water, alum block, clean up razor and brush, rinse face with warm water and put on some aftershave. I don't rush.

During the weekend, I might go for the luxury version, with a cream lathered in a preheated shutle, a third pass to get it really completely smooth all over.
Some weekly moustache tuning.
That takes in between 15 and 20 minutes.

Best regards,
Bart.

 

[mparker762]

About four years.

The shave itself doesn't take very long if the blade is nice and sharp, less than ten minutes I believe. I recently honed up one of my Livi/Takeda's so I'll try to time it tomorrow. But it's been slowly dropping for years now, IIRC it was taking about 18 mins after about a year, then 12-15 after about two yrs.. Somewhere there's a video (youtube probably) of Lynn Abrams shaving and the whole thing (intro, stropping, lathering, two passes, and cleanup, interspersed with running commentary) is something like 9 minutes of continuous video, and he never hurried. But Lynn's been doing this for 20+ years, so I've got aways to go.

Edit: Timed it this morning. A bit under 5 mins for the shave itself. Total time in and out was just under 10 mins.

 

[Cutter]

About five months. Start to finish about 20 to 25 minutes.

 

[Tom Ford]

2 months (there abouts) Takes me 35 minutes, that includes my shower and pack up.

When I originally started, 50 minutes was quick, an hour was average. After a month or so and the more I became comfortable with what I was doing the quicker I got.

 

[mdunn]

ive been at it for a year and a bit, about 20 minutes a shave now (though sometimes I take my sweet time about it and stretch it out as long as I can)

 

[Yorkie]

Been shaving with a straight since October last year.

A quick once over is about ten minutes for me. I don't rush though, I like to have a nice shower or a soak in the bath then I like to take my time and enjoy my shave.
A three pass shave inc. lathering, stropping etc. usually takes about half an hour or so.

 

[huracan]

Did my first straight shave April of last year, took about 25 minutes for a really bad one pass shave, not counting stropping or prep. That went up to 35 when I started doing 2 passes plus touch up.

It's taking me about 12-15 minutes on average for a really nice shave now, about 25 minutes total inside the bathroom with a shower.

 

[FiveOhNine]

3 months and longer than I care to admit.......so damn worth it though.