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

I'm not referring to the post-shave stropping to remove any moisture or residue, I'm talking about the full-on stropping for the next shave. Same day? Next day?

Following the shave I do 20 round trips on leather after rinsing and drying the razor. The next time I shave with that razor I do 40/40 or so, linen/leather. No rules really. Some guys do less, some do more.

After the shave 10 passes on linen with paste then 10 passes on leather. I may or may not strop before next shave.

I do 50 on linen and 75 on leather right after I shave, and 25 more before I shave the next day. It doesn't really matter when you strop.

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?

Moonshae kinda answered that one, he's doing a full stropping after his shave, it doesn't matter when , I iniw a few guys who do theirs right after the shave so it's ready to go and some who do a few passes then again before the shave. I've done it both ways, it does not hurt the blade, it's just realigning it. Strop on. Tc

P.s. It's more about how well you strop than about resting the blade(urban myth)

IF you subscribe to the claim that you need to let the edge rest, then those who espouse that belief claim that the blade must rest for 48 hours.

I strop 5 strokes on newspaper to dry my edge after the shave. I don't usually end up using that same razor again for another week or two and I will strop it on linen and leather right before the shave.

The newspaper is a good idea Utopian, would help keep any left over residue off your strop. Gonna have to try that.

Originally Posted by Grazor

The newspaper is a good idea Utopian, would help keep any left over residue off your strop. Gonna have to try that.

I have two newspaper strops. One is for after shaving and the other is for after honing. Both serve the purpose of keeping my strops clean. As a bonus, the post honing one is impregnated with mineral oil.

It might partly be affected by how many razors you own, if you use the same one daily then i dont think it matters too much, but if it is going tobe a while until it is next used i dont think it would be a bad idea to give it at least a few laps prior.

I generally use the same razor most of the time, when I used to shave daily i would just strop after the shave and the results were fine, i started doing 10 or so extra laps pre shave but I cant say it made much difference.
I now shave every 2-3 days and usually do 50 laps both pre and post shave but if i miss one out it would be the pre.