Thread: Strop mid-shave?

I have tried it off and on: unless the razor is in a bad way, I don't get much out of it. Then again, I haven't been very systematic about it.

I do my initial WTG shave, then lather up immediately so the beard is still hydrating as I almost always do some touch up stropping. Generally only about 20 back and forth passes, if it takes more I probably started from a less than properly stropped edge. Then I reapply lather once more as the time to re-strop probably dried the lather a bit. Carry on from there, ATG, redo areas, and nit picking on my upper lip. I may do some more stropping here but in all honesty if I am that far without desired results, it generally does not make much difference at that point.

Thanks everyone for all the great feedback.
I tried this morning, after teh ATG pass, when I felt the razor was losig its edge a bit. 20 passes while the third lather sat on my face. WOW. What a difference!

It might mean that I am not stropping enough, or perhaps not WELL enough. This razor is by far my best shaver to date (says the man who only has three razors and a half dozen straight shaves under his belt.) It startes off much smoother than any other, but felt pretty dull by the end. Not today.

I think I will strop and prepare two razors from now on, so I don'thave to strop between passes. Hey...who DOESN'T want to get to use TWO of their razors every day!!!

Have never tried this but I am intrigued now and may have to experiment just for the heck of it.

Just to muddy the waters a bit, I NEVER strop between passes. If a razor feels like it's starting to go during the shave, I'll earmark it for 50 linen and 50 leather before the next and final shave before ending up in the "needs honing" pile. On the other hand I can't normally go more that a couple weeks with a razor between honings but the honings are light.... maybe 50/60 round trips on my coticule or 20 to 30 passes on a Shapton 16k and about 50 on my pasted benchstrop and it's back to normal for another 2 weeks of shaving.

Regards

Christian

Sometimes I strop while shaving, but not often. Sometimes I'll strop before my ATG pass; sometimes I'll strop before more difficult areas (like the chin, or around the upper lip). I do find that it helps a bit, especially if I'm doing three passes, but I've never found it to be necessary.

I also don't particularly enjoy stropping, and I don't usually wait for lather to soak into my face/beard (I shave after I shower), so there is no real incentive for me to strop while shaving.

Do you all think this might be highly dependent on technique? I think there is general agreement that one can significantly round/dull an edge stropping by lifting the spine. and stropping is spine first. When you're shaving you're going edge first. Your skin may not be quite as agressive as a strop but it's got to be similar (and then there are those pesky whiskers too). So let's say you shave with a 40* angle. Wouldn't there be a significantly different effect on the blade between shaving at a 15* angle?

Quick,

Check out this article: WONDER PHOTOS REVEAL UNSUSPECTED FACTS ABOUT Razor Blades and Shaving

Yes, I've read that. That addresses the damage done to an edge by shaving and the effectiveness in repairing that damage by stropping. ...and then I forgot about it in the context of this thread (what can I say I'm old with a weak mind).

No doubt that shaving damages/dulls the edge. No doubt that a strop can repair that damage to some extent (or damage it). But the thread is about stropping mid shave. Some people seem to experience a marked effect and others don't feel it's significant enough to strop mid shave. In the article I believe they showed damage (and the subsequent repair by stropping) after 4 shaves of a "tough" beard.

The implication was that they shaved 4 times and then stropped once. Surely the opinions in this thread are subjective and different razors in different states of prep with different abilities to hold an edge were used, but I'm guessing most here use decent razors all in a decent state. Everyone agrees that stropping between shaves is necessary and most feel it's sufficient. Surely there is some damage from a single shaving stroke but probably not enough to warrant stropping by anyone's measure.

So... I was speculating that shaving technique/angle may be the next most significant factor in explaining why some feel the need to strop mid shave and others don't. Maybe 2 or 3 (or more) times the damage is done when shaving at a 40* angle than shaving the same beard at a 15* angle.

Originally Posted by Quick

No doubt that shaving damages/dulls the edge

I posted that only because the article indicates that the the reason a blade needs to be sharpened is apparently because of the corrosion that develops along the edge due to moisture, and not because the beard hair mis-shapes the edge of the razor therefore requiring restraightening on the strop (please correct me if I misunderstood what I skimmed in the article...) So if you were to believe the article, the damage done by the shaving itself is only due to the moisture on your face, and I wonder if any significant amount of rust is actually accumulating on the razor edge before your second or third passes during the shave. (Which it must, if corrosion is the primary factor in dulling the razor. It also makes me wonder how many faces one could shave before needing to strop again - what do the barbers say?)

I've also thought that a more efficient shaving stroke would probably prolong the trueness of the razor's edge, but I don't have any direct evidence to support my fledgling theory. Does anyone find it necessary to strop midshave with a stainless steel razor? Do really soft steels require more frequent stropping than hard steels or is it only a matter of rust resistance? I don't know but I'm sure someone can help us find out

Then again there are those who will say a mach 3 lasts 30 shaves, and others who say it only lasts 3 shaves.