Quote Originally Posted by khaos View Post
So I am only a hobby honer and still a newb, but it seems that a blade is consistently better after stropping on plain linen and plain leather after honing. Is this true or am I imagining?

It sounds obvious because stropping helps keep a blade shave ready, but consistently I will finish off of the jnat or thury and it will shave arm hairs great but will barely pass the HHT or "hovering arm hair test" but after stropping +/-25 on linen +/-40 on leather it passes both tests quite well. Is my technique off or is this a common thing?
I'm a daily shaver, hobby honer, and am also quite an aggressive stropper. I do about 40 linen and 40 leather laps, sometimes more, and haven't had to touch-up hone a razor for months. Even my pasted paddles are hanging there wondering if I don't like them any more.