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.