Thread: No Stropping Before A Shave?

Originally Posted by Dean65

I have always sharpened all of my razors and indeed was also taught this by my Grand-Dad as well as stropping my razors on leather. I don't use "High Tech Hones" that cost hundreds of dollars or microscopes, oscilliscopes or any other magnification products to achieve very sharp razors.

Damn! Now I gotta go get me an oscilliscope!

Dean, that was a very nice summary of the sane side of shaving. It's not rocket science, it's shaving.

As far as the stropping issue goes, I figure if someone declares a razor for sale to be shave ready, then they darn well should have shaved with it AT LEAST once. I cannot imagine shave testing a razor and then selling it to someone without re-stropping it but maybe it happens. If you are completely new to straight razors, there is a good chance that you will mess up a newly purchased razor by stropping it badly. For that reason, I think any newbie that buys a "shave ready" razor should try it for the first time without stropping it. That way they are guaranteed to start with the blade in the exact condition that the seller, honemeister or otherwise, left it. If it shaves well, great. Be happy and take your best shot at stropping it the next time. If it doesn't shave well the next time, acknowledge that you need to work at stropping and know full well that the bad shave the second time was not the fault of the seller. On the other hand, if the first shave is awful, then either you don't know how to shave, or the razor was honed improperly, or the razor actually needed to be stropped. Since you did not strop it first there is no chance you messed it up. The next step then is to strop it yourself and see if that helps. Using this approach helps determine who is potentially responsible when a new razor doesn't shave the way it's expected to.

Nice post Dean.
You bring up some valid points.
I think I may strop in a similar way to you. I use a fairly short stroke with some play in the strop. The anchor hand never moves from my hip so it's not like a rubber band. The stroke is hard to explain but executed correctly the strop sort of wraps around the spine rather than the edge which trails on flat leather. I'm sure it can be done wrongly but so can everything, even stropping on a tight strop ...

I didn't read all of Dean's post.

I would like to add (I think) though, that for me, stropping a newly honed edge is a completely different process then stropping an edge that has been used before.

From the strops point of view a newly honed edge is the most fragile edge you could try to strop.

I would sit in the camp that a razor should not be stropped the first time and you should only attempt part of your face. The razor will be smoothed out a little as you shave. Atleast if your paying for the honing and you have to mail it out again once done.

First and foremost, Thank you Ryan for starting a thread which has provoked so many opinions, I have found a great deal of this to be entertaining and educational.

My dad always told me growing up that if someone makes somethig look easy, it is very likely that they are quite skilled at the task. It is silly (IMO) to assume being new to straights that I am capable of doing the things that I see done in the videos. On the other hand, I am not unaccustomed to using leather to strop a blade. For me it is like second nature. It is difficult to understand how some of the battle hardened "experts" will not divert from the opinion that noobs will always roll the razor's edge. But that is irrellevant.

Like Dean says be deliberate, use your brain, and have a good time. This is a hobby, something to be enjoyed. We are dedicated to taking the boring out of this mundane task and make it something worth enjoying. So have fun.

I wish the best of luck to you in your shaving endeavors.

I guess I missed this one until now,,,,,

I could only answer for my edges, but with every razor I hone, I make sure to include a dated letter with the razor, telling how the razor was honed, and that I have test shaved that razor, sterilized it, and re-stropped it.....

I do actually state in the letter that I want your first shave to be on me, not on your ability to strop or lack of ability to stop, so I ask please just rinse the oil off the razor and shave for your first time... This also gives the razor's owner should they actually be a newbie a reference point for their stropping ability on the next shave also....

It is as optimum, as I can possibly get the razor to them.... Yes for the purists it has been in the mail for about 3 days and I bet you would re-strop it anyway, but I can't as of yet, control the USPS

I started doing the letter after I saw so many questions about this on the forums...

The key being that you well oil the blade before sending it out, thereby minimizing any need for stropping to improve the oxidzed edge.

Good point that I forgot to mention. Under the microscope, I have seen oxidation appear in less than a half hour on some razors. For that reason I always strop and oil right after honing so I didn't give a thought to the fact that someone else might not.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I guess I missed this one until now,,,,,

I could only answer for my edges, but with every razor I hone, I make sure to include a dated letter with the razor, telling how the razor was honed, and that I have test shaved that razor, sterilized it, and re-stropped it.....

I do actually state in the letter that I want your first shave to be on me, not on your ability to strop or lack of ability to stop, so I ask please just rinse the oil off the razor and shave for your first time... This also gives the razor's owner should they actually be a newbie a reference point for their stropping ability on the next shave also....

It is as optimum, as I can possibly get the razor to them.... Yes for the purists it has been in the mail for about 3 days and I bet you would re-strop it anyway, but I can't as of yet, control the USPS

I started doing the letter after I saw so many questions about this on the forums...

You beat me to it... I was gonna post about that letter you include with your sharpened razors.

I strop daily so that my razor stays shave ready. If someone strops it for me, I don't need to strop it, although, it certainly won't hurt the razor if I do so.

Let me prove it with a quote I just found:

A shave ready razor has already been stropped, or else it is not yet shave ready.
- Lee

Originally Posted by Utopian

Good point that I forgot to mention. Under the microscope, I have seen oxidation appear in less than a half hour on some razors. For that reason I always strop and oil right after honing so I didn't give a thought to the fact that someone else might not.

+1 on that. A coat of oil is good insurance. If that oxidation eventually becomes visible to the naked eye you've likely got yourself a pit.