Thread: Newspaper and a sheet of glass....

This is for those who strop with a newspaper.

My thinking is that, when stropping with a newspaper, you are refining the edge, and more than you would with leather, making it that much more fragile, leading to it dulling quicker. Is this correct, do you find your blade dulls quicker?

Is there intermediate medium, in between leather and newspaper, to strop on? I will use cardboard for example. 40 laps on leather, 40 on cardboard, 40 on newspaper. Would this in not help cut down on the 2 or 3 hundred laps, on just newspaper?

Do you strop with a newspaper before or after shaving?
How often everyday, once a week, once a month or only after it has been shave ready honed?

Stropping on a newspaper works great. I used it for a week in London, because I forgot my strop in Norway.

I tried last night with two sheets of the funnies section of the newspaper wrapped around a Corian cutting board and used the stropping method. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to read the second page of this thread and stropped on my leather strop this morning. Wow! I was able to get a BBS shave even on the areas of my beard that are toughest and hardest for me to get close on. Until I'm ready for my razor to be honed I'll use this method at least once a week.

How about using a phone book?

As a final step, what do you think about stropping on your hand?

I've used my hand before with pretty good results. I wouldn't want to do it long term though. I also can use the inside of my forearm because it isn't very hairy at all there. I'd rather do that than my palm long-term....

Which funnies work better. Haggar, Family Circus, Mutts, Dilbert...

Help a guy out here.

Maybe the pages in the phone book are too thin?

Originally Posted by FiguredMaple

Maybe the pages in the phone book are too thin?

Maybe you should use all of the "S's" (Straight razors you know) layered together.

I find newspaper to work fine. I just roll a big one together and use a x-patern-move. Works for me.