My razors were not staying sharp and a mate of mine in the UK - said "Your not doing x-strokes ?" !
So lo and behold , I started doing that and by crom , they sharpened right up . Reason I didn't before , was I read that beginners should stick with easy up and down strokes . Since I had a 3 " wide strop thought I was doing well .
Better late than never !

Cheers,

Scott