Thread: Stropping Practice for a Complete Noob. Advice?

I used the bulldog clip trick as well, take it slow and steady until you get the feeling. You will find that you will start slow and careful and over time you will still be careful but get quicker and quicker. The thing to remember is be precise with the edge it is very delicate, beyond that don't stress too much. You will get the feeling for the razor quickly and it will feel natural after a short while, if you do stuff up a stroke on the strop you will hear it. It will sound different to the other strokes, more of a scraping sound rather than a sliding smooth sound. If this happens slow down a little bit and be as deliberate as you can with your stroke to correct the error as much as possible. If you are light on the razor it should not do too much damage and most probably can be corrected on the strop. Watch how you rinse the shaving foam off your blade, many a post about putting a ding in the razor that way. Make sure that you place the razor down gently between using and putting foam on your face. I use a towel on a flat surface and place the blade spine down first with the scales at a 90 degree angle so that the edge will not get damaged. Best advice, be deliberate about everything you do until it becomes second nature because as soon as you lose concentration something goes and it usually causes damage.