Thread: How often should you strop

My routine is 20 laps after the shave(only have leather strop for now) and 60 laps before the shave. I'm still a newbie so i took my time and i make sure the blade is flat all the time on the strop and i dont use exesive presure. My stropping skill is getting better cause my shaves to, to my opinion it goes together.

I strop 25 on linen and 50 on leather before the shave. After i strop 20/20 to clean and dry the razor. Then I re-oil and put back in holder.

It's odd that most people seem to go with 20 linen and 50 leather when they strop but when I contacted Dovo they told me only to use between 6 to 10 strokes and that I should leave the razor 24-48 hours after shaving before it is stropped. They said that the blade needs this time to straighten out the tiny deformations caused by shaving. I'm now confused as the people who make one of the better blades on the market say one thing yet clearly this community which contains many experienced people say another. Whose right? lol

Ok first of all they sell razors, so that is a good reason to tell you that to rest the blade, so you need two, Myth only. Second they also say their razors are shave ready, myth only. Did a barber back in the day rest his razor when he did 10'shaves a day? Ok now you don't have any concerns, oh and one f the better blades on the market? Now that's number 4. They are a decent middle of the road manufacture that mass produces, so don't get carried away, there are better razor makers. Tc

Many differing opinions found when I started almost 2 long months ago. Did a lot of reading and decided on 15 rough leather and 30 on smooth after shave. Then 60 smooth before shave. Works for me as shave is still comfortable and blade is still sharp. This topic is YMMV dependant....

Strop your razor right before every shave. 30 laps on the linen, and 60 laps on the leather. This is my opinion, and this is what I do. Works well for all of my razors.

Everybody has their ritual. I only do 10-15 leather before and 2-3 linen after to dry the edge

50 on fabric/50 on leather before.
About 10-15 on both fabric and leather afterward

Everybody's routine becomes a very personal set of steps. My morning routine is, after shower, etc, including building a lather, is rinse the blade to remove some of the mineral oil, dry, do 6 to 8 laps on a chalked linen, 35 on hard felt and anywhere from 45 to 120 laps on leather, depending on how I feel about that particular razor and it's current edge. I have heard of some doing leather upwards of 300 laps. After the shave I rinse the blade and do a wash with a small touch of dish washing detergent, dry as thoroughly as possible and apply a thin layer of mineral oil. I avoid, at all times getting water on the scales. Good to go till next time. This is my mileage in the YMMV syndrome.

Thanks to all the replies. I must admit that the woman at Dovo did seem a tough "shouty" in her reply to me. She was trying to blame the dull edge of my new Dovo on me "over stropping" it.

Thinking about the busy barber shaving endless faces day in day out it makes perfect sense that it's fine to strop pretty much any time. But once gain thanks for reassuring me because the 6-10 strokes advised by Dovo leads to painful shaving lol