Thread: How soon after a shave to give the razor its full stropping?

Originally Posted by ShaveWares

What I'm asking is, am I supposed to wait another 24 hours after my shave (and post strop shave) to do the full-on stropping to get it ready for the next day or am I supposed to wait a period of time to let the edge rest?

I found no benefit in the month long test I did resting vs not resting the edge

I strop at night, shave in the morning and don't strop after the shave most days. I normally run between 50 and 70 laps linen and same on leather.

I strop on linen right after shaving to dry the edge, and then set the razor on my shelf. The next evening when I am choosing my razor I strop yesterday's razor 50-75 times on leather (number depends on the blade) and put it on its rack. Before I shave I give the chosen razor 25 laps on the leather. I do this because, as mentioned above, I have many razors and it could have been a few weeks since it was used.

I strop immediately before every shave, and it seems to work well. It's all I've ever done.

I tend to do about 10/10 on the poly webbing and leather of my SRD strop post shave after drying the blade to remove any residue, etc. I shave every other day and if my next shave will be on a workday, then it is stropped 30/60 the night before. If I shave on the weekend where I can sleep in a bit and am guaranteed to be more well rested, I will strop 30/60 immediately before the shave.

Back in the day I grew up going to a Barber Shop, not a Hair Salon. I sat on the bench patiently waiting my turn for my haircut (not a hair styling) and during all those years I watched as the men got a hair cut, their ear and nose hair trimmed along with their eyebrows. On many occasions I witnessed the wonder of watching them get a straight razor shave.

Later once I was grown on occasion I would also get a straight razor shave after my haircut.

In all those years, Never Once did I see a Barber strop the razor After the shave! Never! The razor was always stropped Before the Shave.

Now! Whether or not the barber stropped after the shop was either closed or there weren't any customers I can't say.

Personally, I wash the blade with liquid Dawn dish soap after the shave, then rinse it well and wipe the blade dry and then use a blow dryer to make sure that the blade is as dry as possible. After cooling I apply Ballistol and wipe the excess off and store the razor. And that applies whether I'm going to use that razor the next day or next month.

Seems like there are as many stropping routines as people, kind of confusing to a newbie like me.
But if there is one thing I don't understand, it's you gusy saying you will strop on leather before you shave, if it has been a while since you used that razor, even if it was stropped ater it's last use.
If you are not using it, then I am guessing that the edge should be exactly the same as you left it, so why strop it again? That just confused me a bit

It's just some guys habit, and a freshly stropped blade really ready to shave, time can cause oxidation, so strop it and the edge will be ready, if you shave everyday it's not so important to touch up if did the after the last shave. I personally strop after to clean the edge and just before shaving the next day. Tc

I read a lot about subjects like this before taking up this endeavor and from all the information I gather I created my own routine.

Before a shave, I strop it about ten times on the cotton webbing and approximately forty laps on the leather, that's good enough for me.

Upon completion, after a good rinse and drying regime, I lap it about ten times on the cotton webbing, but only approximately twenty times in the leather. Oil and storage until next time.

I have a rotation, so I don't use the same razor every day. But this routine works fine for me and it doesn't consume too much time.

Post shave, after I have dried the blade with a dry cloth I strop on newspaper (5 or 6 laps) and then do maybe 5 or 6 laps on leather. Preshave I strop on newspaper 30 laps and 50 on leather.

I do stropping right after my shave. 30 web and 40 leather, also during the initial drying I will run it a few times on one side of an old T-shirt