So, my straight razor and strop beginner set I ordered from classicedge.ca arrived last night. I was so so excited! After I had ordered it, I had swore that my next shave would be with the straight razor, so I have >2 weeks of beard growth right now. (I didn't use it yet because I currently have a cold, and this particular strain seems to make my hands sweat excessively; Sweaty hands + Slippery Grip + Sharp Blade Near Face = Very Bad Idea!)

Anyway, since it arrived shave-ready, I know I shouldn't actually try stropping it until after my first shave. (The place I ordered it from actually recommended waiting until after 2 or 3 shaves first.) Now, I know that there's a significant learning curve involved in learning to strop, and I've been told to just accept the fact that I'll make mistakes that'll result in nicked strops and dulled edges. This seems like reasonable advice; after all, everyone makes mistakes at whatever they're learning for the first time. What I want to know is, are there any ways I could practice stropping in such a manner as to get over that learning curve with as few mistakes, which can be expensive in this hobby, as possible?

After lurking through older threads, I found several that mentioned practicing stropping with a strip of newspaper, the idea being that the newspaper will be ripped or cut quite easily and so gives good, quick feedback if poor technique is used. Have any of the more experienced members of this community tried this? Does it actually work and is it something you'd recommend, or have I been misinformed?

Another thing I've read in older threads was to try practicing with a butter knife or something on the strop I got, since the dull kitchen utensil can't damage the strop. The seems like a decent idea, but the only feedback on my technique that I'll get from this is what I myself can see doing wrong. This would be good for obvious things like lifting the spine or not keeping the full length of the blade pressed to the strop, but more subtle things that take experience to know how to recognize, like applying too much pressure, I won't be able to see.

Lastly, since the strop that came with my beginner's set has a cloth and a leather side, I was thinking I could practice with my razor on the cloth since, from what I've been able to gather, the cloth side isn't the most important, that it's the leather that's the critical piece for a strop. Any feedback on my technique would come from how badly I nick the cloth strop. Though, this runs the risk of dulling the razor, of course.

So far, I like the idea of practicing on a strip of newspaper later on after a couple of shaves. Any advice from more experienced members would be immensely appreciated!

Thanks,
Senomaros.