Thread: Which side of strop..

Originally Posted by Smalleyboy

Thanks Scott.

Is it best to not shave for a couple of days so there is some stubble for the blade to work on? Also, how many passes on the strop would members recommend. It is a Wapi and has been delivered stropped and honed?

I am also expecting a cheaper razor off e-bay to practice stropping with. Should I wait and practice on the e-bay razor before I have a go at the Wapi?

Thanks for any advice

Well, no stubble- no need to shave, yes? But if you have stubble every day, daily shaving is up to you. For some, especially the less practiced shavers, daily shaving can cause irritation and it may be a good practice to skip a day if practical. For more experienced shavers, a daily shave may not be a problem at all.

How many passes? The ancient tomes of barber wisdom (ok, the standard text books) teach a method to guage this pretty darn accurately. It'll take some practice to get good at it, but it's very simple. The Thumb Pad Test. Instead of describing it again for the xxxxxth time (sorry), I'll let others do it, or, go find it in the archives.

Others just recommend shaving. But if you don't want to go through the process of stropping, lathering, shaving (not quite there), re-stropping, re-lathering (cause the lather is dried up by now), re-shaving (darn it, still not there), re-re-stropping, re-re-you know, etc, etc, ad nauseum...

I'd highly recommend learning, and using, the TPT.

If you want to learn stropping movements with a cheaper (and even duller, so you won't nick your strop) razor, that's a perfectly good idea.


Scott