Thread: Why Beginners Shouldn't Try To Hone

Originally Posted by xuz

Who's recommending 100 (per side?) on a strop?
I strop mostly on a hard-backed strops and 15 per side is about all I need. (5 on diamond, 5 on chrome, 5 on plain leather.)
I only strop before shaving and when I'm in a hurry I'll just do 5 on the leather with no problem.

I can tell you/promise you that your edges will not last very long.

Why? You aren't stropping after the shave, so your edge is going to have micro-crud on the edge & is going to cause the edge to oxidize...I don't care if it's a stainless blade.

For me (after seeing what the least I could get by with) I strop about 40x after a shave & 60x before the shave. These are my minimums. This combination works for "ME" and all of the various razors in my rotation.

You had better get to stropping or learn to touch up a razor with your current method...

Originally Posted by shooter74743

I can tell you/promise you that your edges will not last very long.

Why? You aren't stropping after the shave, so your edge is going to have micro-crud on the edge & is going to cause the edge to oxidize...I don't care if it's a stainless blade.

For me (after seeing what the least I could get by with) I strop about 40x after a shave & 60x before the shave. These are my minimums. This combination works for "ME" and all of the various razors in my rotation.

You had better get to stropping or learn to touch up a razor with your current method...

I've never stropped after a shave and never saw the point of it. I clean the blade with water and toilet paper, make sure it is dry and put it in a bedroom cabinet. I strop at night, always 100 laps. My blades last for over a month with no touching up whatsoever.

Originally Posted by ace

I've never stropped after a shave and never saw the point of it. I clean the blade with water and toilet paper, make sure it is dry and put it in a bedroom cabinet. I strop at night, always 100 laps. My blades last for over a month with no touching up whatsoever.

Admittedly, I (at least to the best of my recollection) have never stropped on leather after a shave. However, before storing any razor, I always run over my linen b/w 10 or 20 passes; just to remove the crud, and really for no other reason.