Thread: Shave duration

Assuming you take a hot shower and then go to the sink to shave, how long does it take you to complete the whole process? Give me two times if possible: 1) 1 pass WTG only; and 2) 2 passes WTG and ATG.

Being a newbie, I am not quite at the speed where it makes sense for me to shave in the am before work. Yes, I don't want to get up 30 minutes earlier!

If I'm in a big hurry, 10 minutes. If taking my time about 35.

This morning I was in a rush and it took me about 4 minutes. That is only one pass minimal stropping and canned cream. A normal day is about 10 minutes. Cruising through takes 15 minutes. When I am really indulgent and go for the hot towels and the whole shebang, as much as 30 minutes.

I find the time I take is very therapuetic in that the whole world drops away and it is just me and my blade. Be happy that it takes you a while and enjoy your shave time. As soon as your speed starts increasing you will want to slow down again to go totally zen.

Welcome to SRP ! I had already been shaving 40 years when I started straight razor shaving. I had learned the correct way to shave as well as the prep through DE shaving forums and had a couple of years of that under my belt.

My first few straight razor shaves took so long that the lather dried on my face before I got from one side to the other. That didn't last long and I picked up speed with practice.

As SRP founder Lynn Abrams recommends I used a DE along with the straight for my first couple of weeks as I learned to manipulate the razor and get the feel of it on my face.

I have been shaving daily with a straight exclusively now for a year and I can do a two pass shave in 15 or 20 minutes on average. A shower adds time and I normally shave after the shower.

I would suggest you try the straight when you have plenty of time and there is no pressure or need to rush. Here is a good post by Lynn on starting out and here are some videos with topics of interest. Check out the SRP Wiki in the toolbar above for lots more great info.

I’ve been doing this for about a year now. 30 minutes plus was almost written in stone up until about two months ago. Now 15 minutes is about average unless I am really milking it and looking for something do verses just git’n it done. This is two passes and some cleanup effort as needed in a few places.

it would be really quick if i was doing a one pass WTG, but i never do that. i usually do a 3 pass and then touch up on a couple spots (though these are getting to be less and less). with a shower (which is 10 mins usually) this process takes about 35 mins. i shave 3 times a week so i don't really mind getting up a little early and spending the time. i don't think i could go back the canned stuff as i really like using the brush and soap.

Ouch,

This "how long does it take" has been covered before and the answers remain remarkably the same: from 7 1/2 to 36 minutes depending...

This "depending" is really a critical item. How you prep, when you prep, what you prep with, when you strop, how you strop, do you strop between shave phases,etc, etc, etc.

Since you seem to be new at this, it is probably the best not to time yourself, particularly if you use these time data to compare them to those of someone who is accustomed to shaving with a straight razor.

For instance, I shave before I shower and can get the shave out of the way in about 15 minutes. I do this only because I like to rinse the lather residue off my face and doing that while I get the rest of my integument clean seems to save time on that end of the process. I know, I'm floating against the current, but that's just the way I do it. Maybe it can be done faster with a shower-shave routine, but the shave-shower works the best for me.

If you need to take those 30 minutes to shave, do it that way. You may save some small amounts of comparative agony and minor blood loss until you get the routine down.

good luck, good shaving,

I find that waking up 30 minutes earlier than normal is a good price to pay for a nice relaxing start to a work day. I can't speak from much experience (3 weeks into straight shaving), however, for the first couple of shaves I would budget 45 minutes to an hour so you can focus on the shave without worrying about getting out the door on time.