Thread: Newbie needs help

You should strop before the shave. Some people strop a few times afterwards to help dry the blade, but the serious stropping is done right before you shave. If you lather up first then this also gives the lather more time to soften the whiskers. Opinions vary as to how many strokes to take, I do 10 round trips on the linen and 40 round trips on the leather (just saw lynn's post, ignore me and believe him). As for how many shaves you get before paddling, that depends on a lot of things. When it starts pulling more than you like and stropping doesn't fix it then it's time to hit the pasted paddle. Using the pasted paddle is like using a strop, draw the razor with the edge trailing the spine; the stones are used with the edge leading -- if you try this with a strop you'll slice it up.

As for pressure, it does take some but not very much. Stretching the skin is important, it improves the quality of the shave and reduces the chances for nicks.