is stropping really necessary???

[fitzpatrick]

just a poser,,,to save time the other morning i bypassed my usual stropping laps and shaved straight out of the shower with an unstropped razor...surprisingly i found to be slightly more comfortable on my heavy stubble,,,2 pass, with and against grain to finish, no razor burn with no more strokes than usual, proraso aftershave and moisturiser. that got me thinking as i am always thinking/experimenting with new ways to customise my routine...next morning i didnt strop again and same result, then this morning only started needing more strokes to clear my face of hair basically 3 shaves before i needed to strop again, i always thought as a rule you stropped before every shave but i came to realise maybe i was wasting time stropping everday when it was not really required??? anybody else found this or am i alone??

[nun2sharp]

I strop before every shave, there is a difference IMO. Besides who wants to stop and strop in mid shave? As long as you can get away with it, enjoy?

[Slartibartfast]

Same. the extra 90 seconds it takes to strop is worth it to me.

I strop before every shave, there is a difference IMO. Besides who wants to stop and strop in mid shave? As long as you can get away with it, enjoy?

[fitzpatrick]

yeah i see what you mean about honing more regular if i bypass a regular strop, its not just about the feeling but also about razor maintenance! thanks for the reply

[thebigspendur]

People have been stropping razors for a very long time. it's one of the few things concerning razors that is considered mandatory.

[JimmyHAD]

In the 1961 barber manual excerpt (SRP Wiki) the book instructs barbers to always strop before shaving a customer. TBH I've never ever tried shaving without first stropping. It works so I ain't gonna fix it.

Take a DE blade, shave with a Feather and the first shave can be almost too sharp. The second shave smoother. From there it goes downhill every shave. I used to get 3 or 4 shaves and I would change to a new blade.

Stropping the razor straightens out and smooths the edge and prolongs the life of the edge before it needs a touch up. If there were an efficient way to strop a DE that would probably improve them too. Just IME.

[8man]

i'm not convinced that stropping really does anything at all, but i do it anyway. i know that stropping is supposed to realign the teeth on the edge, but is there any evidence of any difference between a pre-stropped edge and a post stropped edge. i mean can you see the difference under a microscope and observe aligned teeth or not aligned teeth? i really don't know the answer.

[Grizzley1]

If any of you have any thoughts that stropping doesn't do anything try this,next time you need a knife for something ,make your first cut,then strop it on something,newspaper an old strop or any other piece of leather,if the knife was sharp to begin with you'll feel the difference immediately.That should convince you

[BanjoTom]

It has been said many times on this site by men more knowledgable than me, "stropping is an acquired skill and takes time to learn." I really didn't buy in to their wisdom, not until I blunted my first razor and took a hunk out of a perfectly good strop. So late smart!!! What makes sense to me is the simple fact that the very fine edge of a well honed razor will oxidize unless it is well protected. One of the easy ways to rid the edge of the oxidized material is to smooth it with a strop, a good strop. Recently I bought such a strop from Jimmy R. I am truly amazed, now, just how much the edges of my razors have improved. And how easier it is for me to use them. Stropping, to me, is an acquired art. IMHO it is essential to achieving the results that I want.

[fitzpatrick]

wow, mixed opinions i see, the guy who said there are too many variables to judge is right on the money and i have to make clear the fact that i am very experimental and dont just follow previous peoples practices like a sheep, i am not scared to sacrifice a razor to try something out and was not suggesting not stropping at all! the trial lasted 3 days so i just got my edge back afterwards no problem (dovo en vogue micarta), i guess i must have adapted quickly to compensate for an unpolished edge i have been a butcher/boner for years previously and know a thing or two about an edge.. pbx system finishing on polished steel really works for my cut but others hate that system (but i was the one waiting for them to finish before the next quarter got broken down) thanks for posting all!