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Short Strokes

I often see people emphasizing the need for shorter strokes. What is the reason behind this? Is it just to do with clogging, or something else? I assume one always rinses between strokes?

I ask these questions, because I have noticed a tendancy toward longer strokes. Probably just laziness, and the fact that it is annoying to have to rinse every half inch. Usually I do one a downward pass on my cheek in two strokes: Halfway down, flip the razor and go down to the jaw. Then rinse and do the next swath.

It occurs to me that one dissadvantage of more shorter strokes would be more shaving of skin with the cream slightly off. This is since it seems that strokes have to overlap ever so slightly, otherwise you end up with unshaved bits.

Thoughts?
 
Short strokes, I think, encourage the following:

Light touch
Correct local blade angle
Focused attention

All are vital for a good shave, in particular a good shave with the Slant Bar.
 
Oh, and I don't rinse my razor until I have quite a bit of lather on it (on both sides: I tend to use one side until it's lathery, then use the other---might as well exploit the double edges).
 
Michael,

Maybe a stupid question and possibly also not really related, but is there a chance that the blades on your razor will become less sharp if you keep the lather on it a little longer (the time it takes to do the 2nd stroke)?
 
I haven't noticed that. It seems unlikely to me, given the relatively brief duration of the entire shave, but I guess it's possible. Still, having not noticed it, it seems to me something I don't need to worry about. YMMV
 
Ashe said:
Michael,

Maybe a stupid question and possibly also not really related, but is there a chance that the blades on your razor will become less sharp if you keep the lather on it a little longer (the time it takes to do the 2nd stroke)?

I'm not a metalurgist, but don't think that a few minutes per day of extra exposure will have any noticeable effect over the live of a DE blade.
 
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