Thread: My Personal Stropping Progress

This is a YMMV topic, for sure, but I thought I’d share my experiences nonetheless …….


I happen to be fortunate enough to live near AFDavis11 and was able to attend one of his gatherings last month. The tips and techniques I picked up during this meeting have proved very helpful. I thought I’d outline four specific items that I put into practice that greatly improved my stropping proficiency:

1/ Strop Oil – I came to the meeting with questions concerning how to properly dress a strop I had made (and how to optimize its draw). I learned that you don’t need a space age strop dressing. Regular ‘ol olive oil does the trick in many instances. As such I gave my DIY strop an application and it seems to be working perfectly. To my untrained hand, the strop appears to have more draw than it did previously.

2/ X Pattern – I learned the importance of gaining experience with the X pattern. Even though my DIY strop was 3” wide, for the past month I have purposely been using an X pattern or half-moon pattern. In the process, I became so convinced of the benefits of the X pattern, that I cut my strop down to 2” – an example of where less may be more??

3/ Strop Tension – Most beginners are advised to keep their strops taut. Prior to the meeting, therefore, I stropped on a virtual tightrope. During the meeting, I learned that a little slack is beneficial. Accordingly, I’ve slightly (emphasize slightly) loosened my stropping tension.

4/ Strop Pressure – In the beginning, I followed the common advice to strop with very light pressure. During the gathering, however, I was encouraged to apply a bit more pressure. Subsequently, I’ve purposely been applying pressure when I strop – only a little, but significantly more than the “weight of the razor only” advice advocated by some. (I try not to apply too much pressure given that I no longer strop with a perfectly taut strop – slack and pressure are a potentially dangerous combination – but I seem to have found the perfect balance.)

The result? Simply put, these four modifications were game changers for me.

Prior to the meeting I was having trouble keeping my razors perfectly sharp – my razors just simply would not stay as sharp as they were when first purchased or honed. My stropping technique was unable to preserve a perfect edge for more than a handful of shaves. Since implementing the above changes, my stropping proficiency has improved dramatically. For the past month my shaves have been the closest, smoothest, and most comfortable yet. I’m sure some of the enhancement can be attributed to technique improvement that naturally comes with practice, but I think the above four changes played a pivotal role in improving my stropping competence and therefore my overall shaving enjoyment.

Thanks for reading. And THANK YOU, Alan, for all the helpful tips!