• The hanginghair test is somewhat misunderstood as it only really tells you that the blade can cut a hanging hair, which is not what a razor needs to do! A razor that passes this test is very sharp, but may be over honed, it is also very dependant on you hair type. I have very fine hair and none of my razors can pass the test, only commercial DE blades can do my hair.

    The best way in my opinion is to have 2 razors minimum. Send one to be professionally honed and get the other as sharp as possible and shave with it(maybe only one cheek) every day, and give it 5 or ten passes every day on a high grit stone. You will see a gradual increase in sharpness eventually topping out to a harsh edge, which then goes too far and ceases to be sharp(most people think that the edge breaks off).

    Then you know how sharp the razor should be by comparing your professionally honed one to your effort and gradually trying to match it by honing it a little each day.

    It is very tempting to try and do it all at once, which is what I did and you just go around in circles not knowing when to stop as there is no test that really works except the 'shave test'(I got to the point where I was shaving twice a day to get as many tests in.....crazy huh?!)

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