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Newbie question- can I shave every day?

I’m about 3 weeks into straight razor shaving with a gold dollar from eBay. I love it so far but I’m only using it 3 times a week. Can I shave every day with this once I improve my technique? I’m doing 2 passes wtg and 2 passes atg with some days great results and some days so so results. I know this for sure, I feel the addiction has begun and I’ll be upgrading the razor within a week or so.
 
With practice you should be able to shave daily with a straight. My personal experience at the moment is worse than yours, mainly because I'm on the Sabbatical and cannot send a straight out to be honed and am learning both at the same time!

Keep your razor sharp and practice -- in a few months you'll be shaving with it daily.
 
Yes, you can shave daily. It would however mean that your razors would need edge refreshes sooner, versus simply stropping between shaves.

Of course, as with any razor but especially open blades ones, daily shaving does depend on being able to complete consecutive shaves with good technique, even if the results are poor. If you end up hurting yourself during a shave, more than some minor nicks or scratches, you’ll likely have to take a day or two off to heal your skin.

I shave daily with either an SR or a Feather AC shavette with little issue.
 
I've shaved 3 passes every day since the first time I used a straight over 5 years ago. The more practice the better it gets. Plus every missed shave is a shave that you can never get back.:001_rolle
 
This is great news, I’ve only nicked myself once, not a bad one at all, I’ve done way worse with de razor. I’m finding the whole process thus far very rewarding and almost peaceful. This seems to be more enjoyable than my double edge shaves, I look forward to each shave, can’t believe I ever used a mutiblade Mach razor at one time!
 
Just echoing what others have said. I've been shaving daily with my straight (by now it's straights) since I started in late April. With good technique it's no harsher than a DE and I'm sure many would say it's easier on your face since the longer edge means that the blade passes over any given area fewer times.

Bottom line, good prep, a slick, protective lather, and a soothing/healing post shave routine and you're good for daily straight shaving (and even the occasional second shave in the evening for those special nights).
 
Only you can answer that. Your skin will let you know right away. You might take to it like a duck to water, or not... go slow, & enjoy the ride.
 
Yup....if your skin and wallet can handle it. You will need a strop (if you dont have one already) and you might want to look into a second straight as you will need to get this one honed way sooner.
 
With practice you should be able to shave daily with a straight. My personal experience at the moment is worse than yours, mainly because I'm on the Sabbatical and cannot send a straight out to be honed and am learning both at the same time!

Keep your razor sharp and practice -- in a few months you'll be shaving with it daily.
Straight Razor honing is allowed for Sabbatical participants.

Simply stated, a participant can buy a years worth of DE blades, but as a straight razor user, you can not buy a years worth of honings in advance.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Four passes is a lot of potential trauma to the skin, depending on your prep and technique, and the state of the razor's edge. If you can get it down to two or at least three passes, you will probably be more successful with daily shaving.

Daily shaving can have a short term cumulative effect, in regards to excessive exfoliation. So it is important to actually SHAVE, and not scrape, your face. This means keep your shaving angle fairly low. A good reference is to set the gap between the razor's spine and your face to equal the thickness of the spine. Very sharp edges often shave better with an even smaller angle. Or you may find that you have to lean the razor out a bit more to get it to shave, if it is not very sharp. With a gap of two spine thicknesses you are definitely scraping. If it won't shave at all with a gap of one spine thickness then I suggest a touchup of the edge is called for. Is My Razor Sharp? The Treetopping Test for one sharpness test. Search for HHT for another popular sharpness test.

The bottom line, though, is whatever works for you, works for you. Most guys do in fact shave daily or almost daily. If you shaved daily using other methods then you should be able to shave daily using a straight. If there is excessive irritation then my suggestion is rather than shaving less frequently, try to improve the shave.
 
Thanks AZwetShaver, if I can't get one of my razors to work by myself I'll send one off. Not critical and I would like to develop the skill to hone my own.
 
Yes, you can shave every day. I mostly do. However, on a daily shave, I go XTG and ATG only. WTG is kind of unnecessary.

I do find that I get a much better shave if I skip a day. I often skip Saturday shaves and love my Sunday shave.

Sometimes I use a DE razor for times sake. The next day’s shave is somewhere in the middle of the above.
 
I shave every morning at 5am with a heavy beard and light sensitive skin. bbs every morning and no issues.

When you get to be really good at it, I don't think it matters much.
 

Legion

Staff member
I find if I shave every second day I get BBS more easily, with no irritation. When I shave every day I try to hold back and go for a DFS, and not push my skin.
 
yep, with the above caveats to individuality given. every other day is likely easier early. reducing the number of passes helps too. I do a WTG/XTG pass, and a XTG/ATG pass and done. don't chase BBS to the detriment of your face as you learn either. I've got spots under my jaw that I just don't chase anymore because the angles required to get BBS aren't worth it and I'd need another joint to get there easily.

I had to shave daily for work, and quickly did weekends and days off too because I liked it. did it for years. now that I'm retired? every 2-3 days.

I find that I get more comfortable shaves on the first pass at least if I don't go more than 3 days between shaves. past 3 days growth my beard feels tuggy, regardless of technique/blade condition. heavier grinds do better than full/extra hollow. it would with DEs too. my Gem was/is the only razor that'll mow down big growth comfortably. almost everyone else says length doesn't matter a wit. <insert shoulder shrug here>. it's a very individual thing and you'll learn what you need as you learn. keep at it and enjoy.
 
I’ve been doing to North to South WTG twice with a ATG on my neck followed by XTG under my jam forward to the chin with the Feather SS. Hopefully I can follow a similar strategy when the SR arrives .
 
I shave every day but I only do a WTG pass and a XTG along jawlines. Over time you will figure out what is best for you. As others have said, do what your face tells you.
Also as Slash touched on blade sharpness has a huge effect on the success of your shave.
I cut and irritate myself a lot if I let my blade get even a little bit dull between honings. Whereas with a fresh shavette blade (regardless of brand) I get no cuts or irritation as I keep the angle very slim.
 
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