Thread: when to strop?

+1 to all the above. I've never read or heard anything saying a razor needs to sit up like that. It's only steel and that would be like telling a soldier he can't shoot his gun for a day or two after firing a shot. LOL! Even though steel is affected by temperature changes & such, I don't think the hot and cold water from your tap is enough to worry about. As a matter of fact, I'm willing to bet the steel in a blade has finished doing whatever it's going to do in less than an hour after shaving with it when it reaches ambient temperature.

As I understand it, even though the edge of a blade appears smooth, it looks more serated under a microscope. Each one of these little serations gets a little out of wack from each shave and needs to be re-aligned. Stropping is what re-aligns and polishes these little serations. I read a good article written by one of the old razor manufacturers that talked about stropping before and after each shave. Stropping before a shave polishes the edge and gets it as keen as possible. The razor's edge can get a little oxidation along the edge that can't be seen by the naked eye. Stropping after shaving helps dry the blade from the friction. For the better part of my str8 razor shaving career, I've been stropping 20 linen & 40 leather before a shave then 15 linen & 30 leather after a shave. Since I've been doing this, I have never had a water spot appear on any of my blades and my razors shave really well every time.

Originally Posted by kcarlisle

As I understand it, even though the edge of a blade appears smooth, it looks more serated under a microscope. Each one of these little serations gets a little out of wack from each shave and needs to be re-aligned. Stropping is what re-aligns and polishes these little serations. I read a good article written by one of the old razor manufacturers that talked about stropping before and after each shave. Stropping before a shave polishes the edge and gets it as keen as possible. The razor's edge can get a little oxidation along the edge that can't be seen by the naked eye. Stropping after shaving helps dry the blade from the friction. For the better part of my str8 razor shaving career, I've been stropping 20 linen & 40 leather before a shave then 15 linen & 30 leather after a shave. Since I've been doing this, I have never had a water spot appear on any of my blades and my razors shave really well every time.

This is my understanding and practice as well. Although I start with 30/60, and finish with 20/20.

aib,

When to strop? I do it at about 5 am, which is when I get up to go to work. On the weekend it's more like 7 am.

I wipe my razor(s) dry on a towel after a rinse in really hot water, don't use the after shave strop, and have neaver had any problem with corrosion.

My preshave strop routine has developed to: 30-40 strokes on linen, same number on slightly rough cowhide, and same number on horsehide. I keep about 3-4 razors in rotation, haven't honed any in months, and do a full face shave every morning.

You can safely strop whenever you want and won't damage the edge. There are many old barbers tales out there more about shaving lore I think. I strop 60x on leather before shaving but many do it after also to remove moisture from the blade. I've found once you reach a certain point (pun intended) maybe 60x or so there is no further benefit to it.

aib, I believe what everyone has posted here is true. But it also depends on the razor in question. I have a Fredrick Renolds(sp) Frameback that is great shaver. But I have to strop it about half way through the shave every time to get a great shave out of it. Sometimes I just strop 2 razors when I plan on using it and when it starts to pull just a bit I swap out to the 2nd one and finish up the shave. But it could be my honing skills too at fault with this razor. This the 2nd hardest razor to hone that I own. Right behind a W&B meat chopper wedge. Which after About 6 years I have never got it to shave.


I only strop before a shave. Mostly because I am to lazy to strop after I shave. I have tried stropping after shaves but I found for me it did little to improve the next shave. So I stopped due to the laziness issue.

But find a routine that works for you and stick with it. If you find stropping before and after works and gives you more practice at it then strop away. I don't use a certain # of strokes either. I usually use somewhere between 25 and 50 on linen and leather.

I will say stropping was the hardest thing for me to learn. I had to learn to touch up razors on a hone long before I should have. I bought a couple of razors off of Lynn when I started just to have a sharp razor to learn with. No since in learning with a dull razor.

Sorry for rambling
Noel

3 pages of info here if that helps http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...-stroping.html

Thank you to everyone for the advice.Today was only my second shave with a straight razor.The stropping does seem awkward but like the shaving I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.I know you can't believe everything you read that's why I figured I would ask the pros.I do like the old barber theory,makes perfect sense to me.I guess I'll try some different methods and find what works best for me.Thank you again.

I strop before and after and sometimes just when I'm in the bathroom. I have been known to strop in front of the TV too.

...surprised me a little. She's been a bit skeptical of the whole straight-razor thing. But the other night, we were both in the bathroom and I was stropping my "test the strop lots and light" razor and she said that the sound of the stropping was strangely comforting to her.

These women, you just never know.

Originally Posted by AnarchoPhil

I strop before and after and sometimes just when I'm in the bathroom. I have been known to strop in front of the TV too.

This is what I've started doing as well. I had a bunch of well-honed razors that didn't seem to be shaving me right. Then I realized my stropping was out of whack. Too much pressure, too loose etc. So I used a barber hone to refresh the edges on a few of the razors, and then started stropping them ultra-light, literally just the weight of the razor on the strop and only enough pressure from my hand to keep the contact consistent. I did 20 double strokes on the fabric, 40 double strokes on the leather. The shave seemed better, and so I repeated afterwards, and then did the 20/40 before the next shave and subjectively, it felt better still. So then, keeping really light pressure, I gave that same razor 50/100 and the next shave was downright glassy. For the first time my chin and moustache area was nicely done with no nicks, no temptation to "clean it up" with a DE razor.

So I'm convinced now that stropping before and after the shave, a goodly number of strokes, but keeping the pressure as light as possible short of letting the blade fall off the strop, is the way to go.

Of course, you have to start with a well honed blade, but stropping tight, light, and lots has really helped this newbie with a more comfortable, closer, shave with many fewer nicks.

Originally Posted by kcarlisle

+1 to all the above. I've never read or heard anything saying a razor needs to sit up like that. It's only steel and that would be like telling a soldier he can't shoot his gun for a day or two after firing a shot. LOL! Even though steel is affected by temperature changes & such, I don't think the hot and cold water from your tap is enough to worry about. As a matter of fact, I'm willing to bet the steel in a blade has finished doing whatever it's going to do in less than an hour after shaving with it when it reaches ambient temperature.

As I understand it, even though the edge of a blade appears smooth, it looks more serated under a microscope. Each one of these little serations gets a little out of wack from each shave and needs to be re-aligned. Stropping is what re-aligns and polishes these little serations. I read a good article written by one of the old razor manufacturers that talked about stropping before and after each shave. Stropping before a shave polishes the edge and gets it as keen as possible. The razor's edge can get a little oxidation along the edge that can't be seen by the naked eye. Stropping after shaving helps dry the blade from the friction. For the better part of my str8 razor shaving career, I've been stropping 20 linen & 40 leather before a shave then 15 linen & 30 leather after a shave. Since I've been doing this, I have never had a water spot appear on any of my blades and my razors shave really well every time.