Thread: Stropping mid-pass

Had a n00b eureka moment last night during my shave. I was shaving with a newly honed razor last night and noticed it became subtly but noticeably less responsive as I shaved. This grew more pronounced when I got into the really burly stuff around my goatee area (I've got ridiculously tough facial hair). Anyway, I decided to stop, wipe down the blade, and strop it for 25 laps right there mid-pass instead of waiting until I'd finished the pass. Result: blade snapped back to super-responsive and I finished my pass. Repeated this as necessary for the 2nd pass and some touchup. BBS, no razor burn, and a much easier shave overall. Thought I'd share.

Originally Posted by freeman

Had a n00b eureka moment last night during my shave. I was shaving with a newly honed razor last night and noticed it became subtly but noticeably less responsive as I shaved. This grew more pronounced when I got into the really burly stuff around my goatee area (I've got ridiculously tough facial hair). Anyway, I decided to stop, wipe down the blade, and strop it for 25 laps right there mid-pass instead of waiting until I'd finished the pass. Result: blade snapped back to super-responsive and I finished my pass. Repeated this as necessary for the 2nd pass and some touchup. BBS, no razor burn, and a much easier shave overall. Thought I'd share.

You've got a good thing going for you then. Hey, from all that I've seen and even the barber manual I recall reading sections from point to the fact that barbers would often strop mid shave even more than once during a shave.

I may be wrong, but I think there may be a sentiment among some that finding the need to strop mid shave means there's something not up to par with your edge in the sharpness area. I say, whatever works for you is best.

Chris L

Originally Posted by ChrisL

I may be wrong, but I think there may be a sentiment among some that finding the need to strop mid shave means there's something not up to par with your edge in the sharpness area. I say, whatever works for you is best.

Chris L

I agree with Chris based on my own experience. When I first began honing I ran into shaves where the first pass was just barely decent. I would rinse, relather and then do 10 strokes on chrom-ox on a flatbed hone and strop. The second pass was always better and then I would take that razor back to the hones and start over. I haven't needed to do that in quite awhile so it does get better.

First pass with the razor was fantastic, it just started to slow down a little towards the end of the pass. I didn't strop it with crox. I was under the impression it was fairly common to strop a razor between passes?

Originally Posted by freeman

First pass with the razor was fantastic, it just started to slow down a little towards the end of the pass. I didn't strop it with crox. I was under the impression it was fairly common to strop a razor between passes?

I've seen barbers do it when I was a kid. I remember because I was very impressed with their skill and I noticed it. OTOH, they were shaving one guy after another. IME shaving my own face with a straight as I became more proficient in honing, stropping and shaving it has become unnecessary for me to strop between passes.

There is nothing wrong with it if you find you're getting a better shave by doing so. No rules, just whatever works. If I felt I needed to I wouldn't hesitate to strop between passes.

yes I remember seeing the barbers do that also but I've often thought the reason why was because they rotated a few razors through the day and they didn't hone them but just kept using them and stropping so I don't doubt the extra stropping helped.

Down the road like Jimmy said you'll probably find you don't need to do that.

I sometimes need to strop mid shave too, depending on how long it has been since my last one. My beard is unfortunately the consistency of wire and can really dull any type of blade. I used to only get a couple of nice smooth and burn free shaves from a new Mach 3 or a double edge razor blade. It is much better now that I shave only with straight razors, but occasionally one starts to pull a little and stropping gets it effortlessly slicing hair again. YMMV.

Originally Posted by Croaker

I sometimes need to strop mid shave too, depending on how long it has been since my last one. My beard is unfortunately the consistency of wire and can really dull any type of blade. I used to only get a couple of nice smooth and burn free shaves from a new Mach 3 or a double edge razor blade. It is much better now that I shave only with straight razors, but occasionally one starts to pull a little and stropping gets it effortlessly slicing hair again. YMMV.

Sounds familiar