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