Thread: No Stropping!

I just received my "shave ready razor". Do I still need to strop it? Newbee question

Some say do,some say don't. I say Try shaving oneside without.If it feels good,finish the other side and then strop after done. Good as gold ! light pressure,take it slow.....

The person who honed it for you will be able to tell whether he stropped it already. Make sure you know how to strop, you wouldn't be the first newb to ruin a honemeister's edge.
If you are confident you can strop the razor anyway, good stropping will never ruin an edge.

High carbon blades oxidize almost instantly, so stropping is almost always useful. Lay the strop on a table and apply JUST enough pressure to keep the blade on the strop. You'll learn the stroke without nicking your strop, and you'll clean the blade up a little.

It really really depends on what the Honemiester told you, myself I specifically say don't strop the edge for the first shave, just rinse off the oil and shave.. Don't test the edge besides the shave, in fact don't touch the "blankity blank edge" at all except to shave.. not really I don't put all that but I should hehehe

Originally Posted by wsfarrell

High carbon blades oxidize almost instantly

That's just not true. They do oxidize more quickly than an inox steel, but provided they are kept dry-- especially if they are oiled-- quality carbon steels are very durable.

On top of which, the damage a new guy stropping can do to an edge is dramatically worse that what the micro-scale corrosion at the edge could cause.

In the 30s, there was a piece written (was it by Popular Science?) showing the difference in the edges after shaving with and without a protective coating (Vaseline Petroleum Jelly, I think) and the pictures of the edges tell a pretty interesting tale of what air does to the edge without some type of protective coat...

EDIT: Here's the link Popular Science

You know I tested this whole thing because that is the kinda OCD person I really am...

January, (IIRC 2008) I honed and stropped a razor, I oiled it, wrapped it & boxed it, I then set it out on the front porch... 5 days later I opened the box, and did exactly what I recommend for people to do,,,

"Please just rinse off the oil and shave, that way the sharpness of the edge is on me, and not your ability or lack there of with stropping"


Guess what???

Yep rinsed the razor in hot water, and shaved,,,, from that point forward I never doubted it again...
But honestly don't take my word for it try it yourself,,,

BTW this has been tested out to 22 days later, that is the longest shipping time I have personally had

I am very slowly warming up to the thought of considering straight razor shaving on my own. Recevied a great shave years ago when stationed in Europe and have continued to carry the memory of that feeling. Finally took a "baby" step and purchased a strop from a local store this past weekend from a knife shop with the thought that I would eventually purchase the razor to use on it. Unfortunately, in a series of circumstances I can't even bear to type here, one of my current (disposable) shavers was drawn down the leather in the wrong direction resulting in a few nicks. My question is, has this strop been rendered worthless for the straight razor I will eventually (some day) purchase?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

You know I tested this whole thing because that is the kinda OCD person I really am...

January, (IIRC 2008) I honed and stropped a razor, I oiled it, wrapped it & boxed it, I then set it out on the front porch... 5 days later I opened the box, and did exactly what I recommend for people to do,,,

"Please just rinse off the oil and shave, that way the sharpness of the edge is on me, and not your ability or lack there of with stropping"


Guess what???

Yep rinsed the razor in hot water, and shaved,,,, from that point forward I never doubted it again...
But honestly don't take my word for it try it yourself,,,

BTW this has been tested out to 22 days later, that is the longest shipping time I have personally had

Yep, the protective coat of oil makes all the difference in the world