Thread: stropping ?

Originally Posted by wim

I always strop my razor before every shave. Until now I only shaved WTG, but today I decided to start shaving both WTG and ATG. Is it necessary to strop in between these two passes as well ?

Thanks,

Wim

What are you stropping on, hanging linen and leather or leather only, and how many passes?

Originally Posted by Chimensch

What are you stropping on, hanging linen and leather or leather only, and how many passes?

In between shaves : about 20 to 30 strokes (1 stroke = once down, once up), only on the leather side.

Not neccessary at all.

I've tried that but it has never improved my 2nd pass

Originally Posted by wim

In between shaves : about 20 to 30 strokes (1 stroke = once down, once up), only on the leather side.

IMO not necessary, but it doesn't hurt either.

To tell the whole story...

The few old barbering schoolbooks that are often cited here on the forums, all advocate stropping in between passes. At the same time there's an old theory that advices to leave an edge alone for at least 24 hours after you've been shaving with it. It is stated that an edge is knocked out of alignment from shaving and that the steel slowly reverts back (to some extent) to its original shape. It is compared with what happens if you crush the transparent wrap they use to seal a cigarette box. It slowly released the wrinkles, while searching for its original state. According to that theory, same thing happens at the edge of a razor and if you strop too soon, the still heavily misaligned parts of the edge might break off, causing premature dulling if repeated a few times, and leaving pieces of sharp metal embedded in the surface of your strop.

So we have two conflicting theories. And I don't know the answer. Many people reject the latter theory, but I'm not so sure. I have tried stropping in between passes a few times anyway. In my experience it only offered a small advantage with razors that were not entirely up to par on the sharpness front. With a real good shaving edge, I did not find any advantage, so I decided to not bother any further with stropping in between passes.

Maybe barbers, being unable to feel the razor's performance to their own face, take no chance and strop as often as possible, accepting the more frequent honing as unavoidable.

I also recall an old thread where an experienced shaver performed an experiment, stropping a razor before an after each shave and another some brand and model razor only before the shaves. If I remember correctly, he found no evidence for the "blade rest before stropping" theory.

In the end, I would worry too much about it, try it a couple of times and find our what works best for you.


PS. It starts to strike me as very odd that all Belgians seem to go by their surname only on Straightrazorplace. Bruno, Tim, Bart and now: Wim. Probably something with the air in Belgium...
Always nice to meet a fellow countryman on SRP.

Bart.

There is no reason a properly honed and stropped razor should need stropping during the shave. If the razor begins to deteriorated during the shave no matter how tough a beard you have the razor is probably not properly honed to begin with or is a poor quality razor.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

There is no reason a properly honed and stropped razor should need stropping during the shave. If the razor begins to deteriorated during the shave no matter how tough a beard you have the razor is probably not properly honed to begin with or is a poor quality razor.

+1 should not be necessary to strop between passes

on the blade. If I am using a lighter blade (ie full hollow 5/8 or smaller) I do it and have good results. If I am using a heavier blade (ie THIS) Then I usually don't strop between passes. I would say try it for these reasons:

1. Stropping is fun! The more you strop, the better you get. Personally, I enjoy it.

2. You can't hurt anything by taking the time to do it as long as you don't let your face dry out while doing so, and, you don't roll your edge.

3. The pursuit of the finest shave you can give yourself is worth the effort. That being said, you owe it to yourself to find out if a mid-shave strop improves your experience. Go ahead, your worth it aren't you?!

as Lynn would say: Have fun.

-Rob