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.

I say give in. No doubt you're going to try it before the strop arrives and regardless of what anyone says. That's what I did. I also remember posting the next morning that I was going to throw the strop in the can with the (bloody) razor as soon as it arrived.

Three months later and still SR shaving and loving it. Start slow....it really is a quick learning curve and in weeks you'll be wondering if you're still a newbie!! Best.....J

I'd say go for the shave!

It's been said in a couple places that beard length doesn't seem to matter as much with a straight than a cartridge razor because it doesn't get clogged. However, since you're starting out, I'd still keep it trimmed. Maybe a day's growth for your first shave. And remeber: don't give up after your first shave - it gets much better!

Happy Shaving!

A newspaper is good but so is the heel of your hand (the fleshy part opposite the thumb near the wrist). Just strop with an X pattern.

Thanks to everyone for the information! I used the newspaper as a temporary strop until mine arrives and it seems to work. I just got done with my first shave too, here are my thoughts.

The shave went pretty well overall. It was both easier and harder than I expected, even after doing a bunch of reading and video viewing for the past month. The biggest problem I had was my lather: I just flat out did a crappy job making some. At one point I almost had a Cool Whip looking lather, but the lather was just too thin and translucent when applied to my face. I shaved most of the way like this, which was a mistake since my face is now all red and burns a little (I used some canned shaving cream towards the end). The only other problem I had was cutting a couple small parts against the grain around the sides of my sick since my hair tends to grow outwards from there.

Other than that, the shave was incredible. The blade didn't scare me at all (I only cut myself about once or twice) and the amount of precision it gave me to cut off certain hairs was just unmatched. The final product gave me the closest and smoothest shave I have ever had! I simply can't get over how ultra smooth my mustache and chin areas feel. I can't wait until the next time so I can have an even better shave.