Thread: Can you strop ANYTIME?

So I shave every morning, like first thing. I just got my blade and strop a few days ago, and I'll do the canvas side, at least ten laps, and then I'll start in on the leather side. But after like 20 laps or so, my arm, hand, and fingers are TIRED!! I'm in shape, workout every day, so it's amazing to me that I can do like 15 pull-ups, but can barely get out 30 laps on the strop before I'm beat!

What I'm wondering is, do I HAVE to strop right before I shave? Can I just, throughout the course of the day, strop when I get bored? Like say 10-15 laps here, 10-15 there, so that in the morning it's all ready to go? Or does the razor have to be warmed and straightened like right before you put it to your skin?

It just sucks, because once my hand and arm starts to get really tired, I don't want to strop anymore because I don't want to make a mistake (i.e. loosening my hold on the strop so it'll "hang through", slicing into the strop with the blade, lifting the spine, etc.), which I'm prone to do the tighter my hand gets. Any advice? Thanks in advance, I'm learning by the second here.

I would suspect based on your level of fitness that you must be trying too hard. Maybe too tense and gripping everything too hard ? Stropping should be kind of light and fluid with the razor rolled by the thumb rather then turning the wrist. The barber manual link here goes into an explanation of it that helped me. On my computer it displays sideways so I printed it out. Lot of good info to refer back to.

EDIT; I like to strop before I shave doing 50 linen and 50 leather. I don't know that stropping more often throughout the day would hurt anything if you are doing it correctly. Others will no doubt comment with their experience.

I read "can you stop anytime?" and thought maybe this was going to be a thread about addiction.

Intermittent stropping eh? Thats a new one on me, I don't know. I guess you would have to do it both ways and see if there is a difference. One of the reasons to strop just before shaving is because the edge will start to develop rust on a microscopic scale soon after last use and the stropping removes this.

As far as your arm being tired I agree you gripping the strop too hard so the tension is fatiguing you. Try and be more relaxed. Either that or maybe you work out too hard and are straining the muscles you use to strop with.

Just another thought. I hang my strop off a door knob which with my height leaves it waist high. The old Koken barber chairs would have the hook for the strop at a waist high level. I think that waist high is an efficient and maybe ergonomic position from which to strop. YMMV

Seeing as some people strop before and after shaving, it would put 30 passes or so after shaving, and 30 passes before on the next day which is two different times. I also have done my linen passes, then wait a few hours before i did my leather passes, and the shave went just fine. But you should probably work on technique if you have enough grip strength to do 15 pullups which is more than you should ever need for stropping. Dont worry about the speed, take it nice, slow, and easy.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Just another thought. I hang my strop off a door knob which with my height leaves it waist high. The old Koken barber chairs would have the hook for the strop at a waist high level. I think that waist high is an efficient and maybe ergonomic position from which to strop. YMMV

Curious ... what do you use for hanging your strop from the doorknob? (Currently using a towel ring about shoulder height - and I know this feels too high.)

I don't really get warmed up until I've made at least about ten passes on the strop

I think your doing something fundamentally wrong. I can strop 60 passes and burn like . . . 1 calorie.

it sounds like you are using too much of a grip when you strop. i also work out a lot and experienced the same thing until i just held the razor between my thumb and first finger and rolled it to flip sides this requires very little musclue use just make sure you have enough grip that you wont drop it but dont hold it in a death grip