Stropping Professionally Honed Razors
Gentlemen,
Should the straight razor be stropped for the first shave after it has been professionally honed?
To reiterate my focus, I do not refer to a razor that is honed by the shaver himself; rather, one that is received in the mail after being professionally honed.
Since I prefer to leave the honing to the pros, I send all of my razors to Lynn for honing. I failed to ask him for his thoughts on the subject. Perhaps he, along with the other experts on this learned forum, can answer my question.
As a rule, even though such a razor may already have been stropped at the shop, I myself prefer to strop it — 25 on canvas, 30 on leather — mostly because of my concern for the many tumbles the package containing the razor might have received while in transport.
I have heard two schools of thought on this: that, yes, it should stropped before that first shave after professional honing, and, no, it should not.
What are your thoughts, gentlemen? If a thread on the subject exists somewhere, my apologies.
Regards,
Obie
Stropping Professionally Honed Razors
Gentlemen,
Thank you for your advice on stropping or not stropping the professionally-honed razor for the first shave.
The consensus seems to be not to strop, since the razor is already stropped after honing. This makes sense. I think I will adopt that method.
Also, I like Glen's idea of stropping razors in general — excluding honed razors for the first shave — 25 passes on the linen and 50 on the leather. I usually do 25 on linen and 30 on leather. I have heard many variations of this number, but I still like Glen's numbers.
I knew I could count on you learned gentlemen for sound advice.
Regards,
Obie