Thread: Wiping the blade?

So, in very many "how to sharpen, strop or shave with your straight razor" videos, I see people wiping their blade with a towel as opposed to "stropping" it on a towel or pant leg, etc.
It seems like the blade edge is being contacted, or at least the begining of the bevel. It's very hard not to wipe close enough to get all the swarf, shave cream or paste off the razor with out contacting the bevel, if you don't then there is some left on the bevel. Doesn't contacting the bevel/razor edge dull the razor?

I think your talking about wiping like from heal to toe with a "pinch" wipe. I do that, but do not let the towel contact the edge. I then do a gentle strop wipe to clean the edge. All between passes. Also I use a micro fibre towel so there's not the loose material like in terry cloth. Same when I clean at the end after a hot rinse of the blade, but then add 10 strokes on material and leather strop.

Howard

I just do a stropping type wipe on a damp sponge. If it doesn't hurt the blade while stropping it won't on a sponge or towel for that matter. At least it hasn't for me.

Bob

I do a pinch wipe type of thing with a towel when sharpening but pay special attention to contact the edge with as little touching as I can while still getting the job done.
When I am done shaving I put a little dab of hand soap from one of those pump bottles, on my finger and thumb and do a couple of careful pinch wipes of the edge to clean off the shaving soap scum.
All the shaving soaps I have used tend to leave a soap scum in the sink, so I assume there is some on the blade as well. The handsaop in the dispensers seems to dissolve the scum easily and then I rinse with hot water. A single folded piece of TP is used to carefully dry the blade first and then the inside and finally the outside of the scales.
That is probably overkill but I don't want a damp soap scum layer residing on the blade until it is stropped the next day. Also I don't want it on my strop, even though many advocate using lather on their strops. Maybe I will try that on an old strop someday, but for now my new strop will stay saop free.

I pinch wipe with a wash cloth
during the shave to remove lather.

After the shave I strop several
times on a towel laid flat a counter.

Terry

I use a stropping motion on a damp washcloth during the shave and pinch wipe with TP when done. Finally strop about 10 licks and finish with a drop oil.

yes, thanks for the replies, I do something similar in my shave routine.

It's just seems like in most videos, especially honing videos, guys are wiping the blade, and it's hard to tell how close they are to the edge, and most are not finishing with a "strop" on a towel/sponge/leather.

I wipe heel to toe like you probably see in the videos. I just want the bulk of the cream and bear trimmings out of the way, then go immediately back to the face to keep shaving. In these 2 seconds the stuff on the edge does not dry. After a complete pass before I set the razor down to re-lather, I rinse it under the tap (hot water) and do another heel to toe wipe to get off the big drops (the small ones evaporate quickly as the blade is hot from the water and the room is a bit cooler).

Works for me.

I think there are potentially many right ways to care for a blade during a shave...you just gotta find the one you like best.

My top priority is to not damage myself with the edge, second is to not damage the edge. This seems like a good start for a set of shaving priorities