Thread: Stropping

Stropping is a primary hurdle in learning to shave with a straight razor. I strongly recommend you apply the same care and attention to stropping as you do when honing. A honed edge from an expert is a useless tool unless you take the time to learn to strop.

Stropping is about 40% action and about 60% evaluation. Evaluation of the edge that is.

Once you have developed an understanding of honing, sit back, and shave one day, on a day you've got some time, and learn to strop. Try a little experimentation and spend some quality time evaluating the edge. If you dull the blade a little, just hone it up. I can't overemphasize this; you can shave with a razor that is well honed and never learn to properly strop. The only indication is that the shave will not feel BBS when done, you might find the razor doesn't shave your neck or chin well, or some other very subtle difference. A properly stropped razor will work against the grain without effort.

Fundamentally, you want to use a really, really light touch on a taut strop and build up on your speed and quality as you practice. What your trying to do would seem like burnishing the edge, very lightly. A weakly honed blade may originally require a little pressure when stropping, followed by a return to a light touch. It may also make more sense to just hone some more. Using a light touch on the hone and strop you may want to move back and forth and experiment. At some point the edge becomes thin enough to get burnished (or whatever is actually happening) on the entire edge.

The real craftsmanship in this process is evaluation, not stropping. The properly stropped edge feels sticky and instantly breaks the skin of the wetted thumb. It feels almost electric to the touch. It feels different from a honed edge; very different.

It takes a while to learn how to do this and make it work. Stropping should never be done with a callous lack of attention and a razor should never be used unless it really meets the criteria of a strop sharpened edge. It takes time, dedication, and experience but once you learn how to do this you'll discover what true shaving comfort is all about.

Stropping is the big epiphany in straight shaving that you may be missing.

Totally agree. I only discovered I've been doing it wrong for the first 5 months of using straights the other day. I think sometimes the importance of good stropping techinique is under-emphasised.

Thank you for this post. As a newb, I concur - I find stropping properly to be difficult and is the lion's share of learning to shave with a straight. A nice edge makes shaving sooo much easier and enjoyable. I ruined an edge that Lynn Abrams put on my razor for me with stropping incorrectly, got it re-honed, and have since then gotten better at stropping, but it still needs work.

I'm glad you brought up the idea of evaluation. That's something I don't do so much. . . What do you do, just eyeball the edge to see where it's 'shiny' and 'less shiny'? I'm a little scared to do the thumb pad trick.

You couldn't possible see the difference between well honed and properly stropped with your eye.

I wet my thumb and lightly touch down on it. If the skin breaks instantly I know its good. I can lightly run my thumb down the length of the blade on a well honed razor. On one that is properly stropped it sticks tight and won't move. I won't recommend this as it could be dangerous.

Just lightly touching the blade with a wet thumb should give you a good sense of it. The razor will also begin shaving perfectly too, that is always a good sign.

I couldn't possibly agree more that the importance of stropping is under emphasized everywhere. I regularly have to rehone a razor that is freshly honed and I know is sharp because newbs eiither strop wrong or don't strop enough. There used to be a study on here and there might still be that said around 50 or 60 laps is what maximizes the life of a razor and it is common knowledge that a strop should be taught but not over taught cause it can curl the strop and ruin the razor yet it is not often said to newbs. Also the pressure should be no more than that needed to deflect the strop 1/8 to 1/4 in inches. Newbs should spend more time practicing stropping with a butter knife because the razor may be sharp but it won't be comfortable or stay sharp without proper stropping technique.

Great Information! I'm new and didn't really know about the 50-60 laps study. Very interesting.

If it's any use, I can emphasise the quality of the shave being the signalling factor. I discovered my flawed technique shaving with a very sharp blade stropped by myself, versus the same blade on the other half of my face stropped by someone else. Catching hairs, some resistance and drag, versus sliding like a surfboard on a millpond.

Originally Posted by The Topher

I couldn't possibly agree more that the importance of stropping is under emphasized everywhere. I regularly have to rehone a razor that is freshly honed and I know is sharp because newbs eiither strop wrong or don't strop enough. There used to be a study on here and there might still be that said around 50 or 60 laps is what maximizes the life of a razor and it is common knowledge that a strop should be taught but not over taught cause it can curl the strop and ruin the razor yet it is not often said to newbs. Also the pressure should be no more than that needed to deflect the strop 1/8 to 1/4 in inches. Newbs should spend more time practicing stropping with a butter knife because the razor may be sharp but it won't be comfortable or stay sharp without proper stropping technique.

So, is there some slight pressure you are supposed to apply? Or are you just trying to glide the razor along with just the blade weight?

I'm using a TM starter strop and am just trying to glide the razor along it as lightly as I can. Should there be a tiny amount of downward pressure component?

Alan, thank you so much for this post!! It prompted me to really put aside the paddle strop and practice on the horsehide hanging strop I have.

Today, I had the most comfortable shave with the sharpest razor I've had to date after 8 months of daily shaving with a straight.

60 laps on the horsehide for a Dubl Duck Dwarf given to me for free from a local older barber. I knew it was sharp because 1) I didn't hone it , he had years ago. 2) After stropping, for the first time ever, I've now had a razor that easily lopped one of my very fine blond hairs in half on an HHT (previous to this I've ALWAYS had to use my wife's hair for HHTs, even with shaving sharp razors, my own hair simply never would do it). Virtually no resistance anywhere on my face when shaving this morning. I was able to use the lightest touch when shaving. Truly a pleasure (also the first time I've used a spike point and....no probs).

One thing that really helped me in eliminating nicking my strop: I printed off the page in the archives from the barber manual and deciphered the hand written notes from the student's book. He had written something about the razor should remain in contact with the strop at all times during stropping. I do this now and...no more nicking.

Very cool. Thanks again. Man alive is that DD Dwarf sharp!

Chris L

Originally Posted by Seraphim

So, is there some slight pressure you are supposed to apply? Or are you just trying to glide the razor along with just the blade weight?

I'm using a TM starter strop and am just trying to glide the razor along it as lightly as I can. Should there be a tiny amount of downward pressure component?

I have the TM starter strop as well, but in using it on my door knob I think I messed up my edge because it was hard for me to not have any bend or torque in the strop. Now I place the strop on my kitchen counter which is waist height and strop with it that way - I guess that's more like a paddle strop. . . but the results have been better for me. YMMV