Thread: How many...and what time

I was wondering.....what is your ratio of canvas/leather per shave. I was thinking along the lines of 20/40. Is it necessary to use the canvas each time?

Also wondering.....is it possible to strop the razor the night before you shave? I heard that by the time you wake up the razor is misalligned again.

Cheers,
Isaac

i only use canvas after a shave for 10 strokes to clean the edge.

I strop before and after the shave. 30 passes on each side (linen, leather) before, and 20 passes on each side after. I strop after the shave just to make sure all the moisture is removed from the blade.

I've seen some people strop more than 60 in total (LX has a good video somewhere demonstrating how he strops -- count those passes! ), and others will do fewer passes (e.g. 10-20 on each side). I guess it's a lot about personal opinion in terms of the number of passes.

There is a consensus that you should not leave it more than 20-30 minutes after stropping to shave. One of the more experienced members here recommended that (Randy, Tony, Howard? Sorry, I should pay more attention! ). Certainly the night before would be too long before the shave. I tend to strop after I've lathered up, within a couple of minutes of starting the shave.

Others should chime in here...

Everyone has their own opinions on this. Personally I do 20 on the canvas and 60 on the leather before each shave. A good habit to get into is lather up and then do your stropping to give the lather time to do its work and then you will have accomplished good timely stropping and good lathering.

If you look back in time I did a stropping experiment entitled the grand experiment a year or so ago. Interesting reading but my result was 60x on the leather works best.

I think LX only stropped that many times because he had just finished honing that little Lenooren razor he had.

Do you not find that your face/soap dries up too much if you strop after you lather your face? I find that it dries up to the extent that I need to re-apply water to my face to keep it a 'wet-shave'.

Thoughts?

p.s. I do 20/20 before and after, sometimes I bit more on the canvas if the razor feels like it needs it.

In my early shaving days when I started experimenting with soaps and thought Williams was a quality soap and Burts Bees was as good as it gets your right they dry up quickly. If you use a quality english soap or one from one of our soapmakers I think you'll find they do not dry and last a loooong time on your face.

I'm using Proraso cream in a tube (green/original)
also using Geo F Trumpers coconut. These are high-end soaps but still find my face dries up.

I use leather exclusively for the first few shaves then move to adding linen every couple of shaves. I usually go back and forth a little; linen, then leather, then linen, then leather again. I find this builds the draw up a little.

I focus more on the quality of the stropping vs any concern over the quantity of passes.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I focus more on the quality of the stropping vs any concern over the quantity of passes.

My thoughts exactly!!

I strop just before each shave while the lather is soaking into my beard. I use both linen and leather, about 20/50.


Works for me!