Why are my shaves only getting worse?

Hi all,

I'm new to shaving with a straight (obviously). It seems like every time I shave, the razor pulls more and more on my hair. In the past this would have meant that my cartridge razor was dull and I would have thrown it away. Now I assume it means that my edge is dull. I got this razor from a member here and it came to me wonderfully sharp. I have shaved with it about 12 times and it seems like I bleed more and get more razor burn every time. I started out stropping it around 30 times until I read that this wasn't enough so now I strop before and after my shaves sometimes as much as 70 times on a poor man's strop. Seems like it just keeps getting worse though. I know that it isn't ready to be honed yet so it must be my stropping or else my shaving technique? Even if I have a good lather worked up the blade goes right over the hair leaving significant stubble which makes me shave the same spot multiple times which gives me razor burn around the chin especially. I try to strop evenly and also try to keep the blade flat. My strop is a little thin so I am forced to make a "x" pattern which is kind of hard... Is it possible that my stropping is only making it more dull? If so, can I bring it back? Help!

If your razor keeps getting duller and duller, that means it's your stropping technique. Keep the strop as flat as you can, and use very light pressure with the razor. Make sure you aren't lifting the spine.

It might be the "poor man's strop". When I originally purchased all my shaving gear, about 7 years ago, I spent the big bucks on a high quality strop. To me that made the most logical sense when it came to expenses for straight razor shaving.

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Originally Posted by AFDavis11

It might be the "poor man's strop". When I originally purchased all my shaving gear, about 7 years ago, I spent the big bucks on a high quality strop. To me that made the most logical sense when it came to expenses for straight razor shaving.

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"Stropping is King" :D

It sounds to me like you have degraded a quality edge with a substandard strop and, to compensate for declining keenness, started to press harder. If that's even close to what happened you should back up and revisit your strop and stropping technique.

You might think that it's too early to have the razor honed, and you may be right, but it's time to do something with it. If not re-honing, then a touch up with a finishing hone or a pasted/sprayed strop will be in order. Which brings you back to stropping.....

One of the most baffling recommendations I see is for people to get a cheap, "beginner" strop. I'm with Alan 100% on this one.

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Originally Posted by richmondesi

One of the most baffling recommendations I see is for people to get a cheap, "beginner" strop. I'm with Alan 100% on this one.

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While I may agree with the ideology, we must remember that beginners may not have the most solid stropping technique (such as deflecting the strop at the edge rather than the spine) and may even wind up damaging the strop with a too-sudden stop or some other n00b mistake. Better to bugger up a $30 strop and move to a better strop when the issues have all been ironed out. I know that had I made some of my early errors in a beautiful $100 strop, I'd be ready to barf. However, now that I've got a decent handle on technique, it is time to consider upgrading to some English bridle leather.:D

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Originally Posted by SonOf1337

While I may agree with the ideology, we must remember that beginners may not have the most solid stropping technique (such as deflecting the strop at the edge rather than the spine) and may even wind up damaging the strop with a too-sudden stop or some other n00b mistake. Better to bugger up a $30 strop and move to a better strop when the issues have all been ironed out. I know that had I made some of my early errors in a beautiful $100 strop, I'd be ready to barf. However, now that I've got a decent handle on technique, it is time to consider upgrading to some English bridle leather.:D

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I've heard that line of reasoning a lot, and I still don't agree with it :D

If you buy a cheap strop, say the $30 one from your example, and then you decide to buy a $100 one once your technique improves, your total investment is $130

Now, instead, you buy a better quality $100 strop to begin with. After you replace the leather component for $50, you're looking at a total investment of $150... To me, it's worth the extra $20 for a significantly better product.

When someone introduces a really high quality strop for $20-$30 bucks, I'll be all over it, but as it stands now, I'd rather buy the nice strop first :beer1:

When you say poor mans strop I'm assuming you ean the one from whipped dog. If that's the case, did you pretreat it as reccomended? I ask because I had the same issue and in my excitement to begin all shings shave related, I ignored the instructions. I then went through what you are going through. After I massaged in some lather and rubbed it with a coffe mug god knows how long, I took the razor across it about 40 laps and it was good to go again. While I usually go by the "get what you pay for" adage, it doesn't always mean that cheap price is cheap quality, but it may just need some love to get it right. People do that all the time with razors on here after all...pick it up cheap, polish, re-scale and presto! And as others have said, why drop a bunch of money on a strop you will inevitabley mess up?

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Originally Posted by mrbison

Hi all,

I'm new to shaving with a straight (obviously). It seems like every time I shave, the razor pulls more and more on my hair. In the past this would have meant that my cartridge razor was dull
....snip...
My strop is a little thin so I am forced to make a "x" pattern which is kind of hard... Is it possible that my stropping is only making it more dull? If so, can I bring it back? Help!

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Tough call from a keyboard.

One way to think about stropping is that you
set the blade on the strop and drag the edge behind
the spine slowly thinking that you are letting the
strop pull a slightly folded edge straight. No pressure
just let the strop do what it does.

If you have a canvas strop give it 25 strokes
with the same feeling then 40 on leather. The fibers
of canvas can "snag" little steel folds on the sharp edge
and pull then straight or off.

If you do not have a canvas strop try newspaper.
Take a 2 1/2" to 3" wide board that is 1/4" to
an inch thick and 24 inches or more long, wrap it with
a couple layers of newsprint and strop on it.
Set the spine down followed by the edge and
smoothly strop the edge.

Save this board. Later, you can glue common hobby
shop balsa wood or leather to it. Apply CrOx paste
or a spray of sub micron diamond and make a strop/hone
that will help many razors stay smooth and sharp.
Your board will have two sides so clean leather
and pasted balsa or leather is possible.

If these little tricks do not help consider sending it
out to a honemaster.

If you have a barber hone or another 8K or finer hone
you should give it a try. If you cannot improve the
edge send it out. BTW I like the Norton 4K/8K combo
hone...

I am having similar troubles like you. The advice I have got is stropping as well. I would like to share a line from the advice I got. If you have a hanging strop, then lay it flat on a counter or some flat hard surface and then strop, slowly deliberately. I am going to do that and see how I progress.

Good Luck.

- PK.

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Originally Posted by richmondesi

One of the most baffling recommendations I see is for people to get a cheap, "beginner" strop. I'm with Alan 100% on this one.

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+1 not cheap.

Inexpensive is OK, cheap is not.
One of the sponsors has a top of the line
strop and also sells replacement leather and canvas
for a very reasonable price.

Since a strop is used each day for each shave
this is the one item to not go cheap on.


If the budget is tight and you can hand pick leather at
the likes of Tandy leather go for it if you have a good eye.

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Originally Posted by sclick

When you say poor mans strop I'm assuming you ean the one from whipped dog. If that's the case, did you pretreat it as reccomended? I ask because I had the same issue and in my excitement to begin all shings shave related, I ignored the instructions. I then went through what you are going through. After I massaged in some lather and rubbed it with a coffe mug god knows how long, I took the razor across it about 40 laps and it was good to go again.

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You would be right - it is a whipped dog "poor mans strop." You are also right that I "ignored the instructions." In fact, I don't even remember any... Not the first time this has happened either...

When you say that you "massaged in some lather" and "rubbed it with a coffee mug" do you literally mean you rubbed it with some soap lather? Or do you mean a kind of leather conditioner? And when you say you "rubbed it with a mug" do you mean compressed the leather with a cylinder - kind of like a steamroller motion? Sorry, I'm not trying to be dense - I just want to get to where you are... Thanks.

It was soap lather..Col. Conks bay rum to be exact...not a rolling motion, just rubbing back and forth with the side of the mug.
Here are the instructions from whipped dog for prepping the strop:
"Whether .....some preparation is necessary for stropping. Some maintenance is required during the life of the strop also.Periodically, your strop must be oiled and rubbed. Some acceptable oils are Neatsfoot, or mink oil and other leather conditioners. Many use lather left over from shaving due to the oils that are in them or even just the oils on your hand when rubbed on the leather. Every week or two, rub a light layer of oil or lather into the strop and knead and rub the strop until the coating is rubbed into the leather. Then, wipe it well with a cloth.
Before using ....treat it with oil or lather as described above. Afterwords, you need to smooth the leather. This can be done with a flat sided coffee mug, or similar hard and smooh object. Place the leather on a flat surface and rub the leather with the side of the mug. While rubbing, press down with force. This will ensure that the leather is smoothed, and will eliminate any small irregularities..."

I am going to also assume that you got the balsa strop as well, so I reccomend you condition the strop, then use the balsa. Put it on a flat surface, do 20 laps on green, wipe it off, 20 laps on red, wipe it off, then 40 laps on the leather. Remember to keep the pressure on the razor light and the tension on the strop high and you should be happy with the shave again.

As others have mentioned, it is your stropping technique. I made the mistake of lifting the spine up and had a similiar issue. Once I improved my stropping, my shaves improved. I would say go slower and focus on keeping the blade flat. I would say if your strop has a canvas or linen side, paste is with CrOx lightly. I would say try thirty on the canvas/linen then about 75 on the leather side. If yours is only the leather, than try the newspaper instead of using the canvas. It took me awhile to discover I was stropping improperly.

Thanks for all of the useful information. I do plan on getting a good strop soon, I just want to get the "feel" for stropping first... I've already made some ugly "oops" marks on the cheaper strop I currently have. I think that I have been using too much pressure on the spine of the razor possibly, and I haven't been focusing on keeping the strop tight. I will try stropping on a table and see if things don't improve a little. Earlier today I was trying to slow my stropping down to a snails pace to see what was going wrong and I seemed to be lifting the spine a bit every once in a while. It's just not as effortless as it looks in the videos!

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Originally Posted by mrbison

I seemed to be lifting the spine a bit every once in a while.

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That will trash an edge VERY quickly. Add in a strop that's too slack, and your edge would get worse quickly.

The only other thing I would add, since I agree with just about everything posted so far, is that you should give your face a break.

If you're only 12 shaves in and you're getting more and more chewed up with every shave, it would be good for your face to have a chance to heal up a bit. Maybe even skip shaving all together for a few days if you're able to. Of course, since your edge probably needs to be re-honed, that will certainly get you a break from straights while it's out getting honed.


And here's my $0.02 on "beginner strops." I think they're 'ok' if you're on a tight budget to get started, but when you can get a great strop for $65, I don't see $30 for one you'll outgrow in 6 months as such a hot deal; especially when the lack of a fabric strop and a feeling like it's 'disposable' may have a seriously negative impact on learning to strop properly.

Even if budget is a serious concern (which I can appreciate) the same $30 could probably get you a much better vintage strop if you shop around and keep your eyes open.

As a fellow newbie I would suggest you getting a good strop. I used to strop a razor on a 2 inch (maybe a 2.5 I don't fully remember) in that "x" pattern. After a few shaves it was torture to use (but the razor was factory honed so I was doomed anyway). I then bought a TI paddle strop (thinking the hanging strop had too much slack) and it was still awful (but at that point it needed a honing which i didn't even know existed). I gave up on the traditional straight and used a feather razor for close to a decade.

I am about 15 shaves in with a new traditional straight (that was hand honed at SRD) and I also purchased a 3 inch latigo strop. I think the 3 inch is much better for a newbie because it eliminates the "x" pattern. Maybe you are still supposed to do the "x" pattern but the 3 inch strop covers the entire length of the blade, therefore I just go straight up and down. Noting having to do the "x" allows you to focus more on pressure and keeping razor flat. It eliminates one extra factor. I also find that pulling the strop tight toward your chest/stomach and stropping away (and then back towards you) is much easier than stropping sideways. It just feels more natural and I also think is easier.

The 3 inch latigo strop from SRD has two strops. One is like a nylon strap and the other is smooth leather. I strop 25 times (once back and forth) on nylon and about 50 on the leather (sometimes a little more if I accidentally lift the spine on a stroke which I do sometimes). I start off with little pressure like you're supposed to, but admittedly, by the end of the stropping session my arm is tired and shaking and my pressure increases (but I go very slow). But I am 15 shaves+ into this razor and today's shave was the closest of them all.

I would suggest a 3 inch strop and strop away from and towards you. Take your time and try to give as little pressure on razor as you can.

Well thanks for all the help everybody.
I took out my strop, gave it a light oiling and stropped slow and deliberately - on the table. I took the advice of one member and "stropped the hell out of it." After around 130 careful strops I gave it a test shave and it was much, much better. I was actually able to shave with it again comfortably. Its still not quite as sharp as it could be yet (or once was), but now I am back on track with a stropping technique that will work! I feel great. After this lesson, I'm thinking that the next strop I'll get should be a paddle strop - nice and stable. Anyway, for now crisis resolved.