Thread: Shaving before strop arrives

I just bought a shave ready razor in the classified section a couple nights ago and at this very moment bought a new Illinois #127 strop off eBay. The straight razor has already been shipped, so it's likely to arrive here before the strop. So my question is, being eager to finally give straight razing a try, can I go ahead and shave once my razor arrives or should I wait for the strop to arrive too so I can strop before and after using my shave ready razor?

And for a bonus question, should I leave my facial hair to continue growing out until everything arrives or should I manage my facial hair to stay a little low for the big shave?

depends on who claimed it was shave ready. if lynn honed it than let you beard grow and enjoy. it will shave a werewolf clean right out of the mail.i have had "shave ready" razors from others that needed the bevel set and honed&stroped for 2 hours before they would do anything but tear up my face.

hi_bud_gl is the one that honed it. A couple people in the chatroom told me he is a very good honer, so I'm taking their word for it.

He knows his stuff for certain.
Until your strop arrives you can use a newspaper.

Originally Posted by 0livia

He knows his stuff for certain.
Until your strop arrives you can use a newspaper.

Does that really work? I'm in the same situation having a razor but not a strop yet.
How do you use the newspaper, cut equal size bits as a strop or what?

No need to cut.
Pick a page with a lot of black and put that on top.
Then put the entire newspaper with all its pages on a flat surface and strop.
The black is actually mildly abrasive iron oxide. The multiple pages work a bit like a cushion.

thanks 0livia! Will try asap

...I see you sell shaving supplies and razors, perfect for me as I also lives in the EU! Maybe I'll order a strop from you

No problem and sure, why not.
Glad to be of service.

One additional point about the newspaper. I find it best if you can wrap the paper around the flat surface thereby increasing the tension of the paper. Recently on a trip I purchased a str8 at an antique shop. It seemed NOS and plenty sharp, so of course I wanted to shave with it. I first took the glass top off the table in the hotel and wrapped the newspaper around the glass making it very tight, the stropping was good and the shave was also. Good luck.

Happy Shaving

Mark

I will vouch for hi_bud_gl. His razors arrive sharp and there is no need to strop out of the package. After you get your first shave in, then you can go the newspaper route until your strop arrives. Happy shaving!