Thread: Cumulative Stropping

I had a Ern Ator Razor

Probably my favorite all-time razor, hands-down! I've got a couple that they will have to pry from my cold, dead fingers. About 6/8", quarter hollow, shoulder-less, smiling, humpback: the perfect grind and blade for me at least. And yeah, they take a killer edge!

I only need about 20 laps on my Levi loom strop to achieve the same results as 30 on linen and about 60 on leather with my hanging strops. I always strop the night before my morning shave to save a little more time to enjoy my shave, as I generally need to rush out the door early. I also seem to enjoy an evening routine of picking out a razor, soap, and brush and stropping before getting ready for bed.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Im a stropaholic.
Before a shave i will strop 30 linen and 150 leather. After a shave i strop 30 linen 100 leather. After a honing i will strop 50 linen 200 leather.

Does excessive stropping help, i dought it, can it hurt, yes! If you dont do it right. Remembering that barbers only did a few laps before a shave makes me think they had a better idea on what they were doing than me but i keep stropping and changing up types a leather. I dont think ive ever noticed a difference in the outcome of a blade with different leathers, but why not. JMO. Its part of the fun of SR Shaving.

wow, I do,strop quite a bit myself, but that is really something. ��
But, if it works, then keep at it.
Stropping works, no doubt

Originally Posted by RayClem

I have several strops hanging in my bathroom. I often use them all before shaving. I start with 25 laps on a homemade linen strop to clean the blade; then I move on to 25 laps on a zippy cotton strop from my Griffith Shave shell cordovan strop, then I do 25 laps on my Tony Miller fuzzy linen strop. From there, I do 25 laps on latigo, 25 laps on kangaroo, 25 laps on shell cordovan, and 25 laps on fast bridle. That works out to 175 laps total. It that overkill? Perhaps, but I have a tough beard and sensitive skin, so the extra stropping helps me get a very keen, yet very smooth edge.

WOW! That's a lot of stropping!

I see the possibility of a 12-step program...

It would have to be at least 84 steps: 12 on linen, 72 on leather

Originally Posted by bcw

I see the possibility of a 12-step program...

I don't strop nearly as much as many around here. I don't see a lot of benefit in a lot of repetition. After a shave I give it 20 laps on linen, 20 on leather. And that's just to be sure its clean and dry. 30 to 40 laps on leather before I shave. One strop at a time, no combinations. I haven't seen much benefit from more stropping.

I am a firm believer in progressive stropping, as my good friend Neil Miller (may God rest his soul!) was. Whenever I restore or hone a razor, regardless of grind or hone used, I will strop around 400 laps on around 10-15 different strops from heavy draw, to elegant draw to very slick draw. To me stropping smooths and mellows the edge...and everyone that I have honed or restored a razor for comments on the quality of the shave. Whenever I take a 'not often used' razor out of my "Big Box 'O' Blades" I will strop first on a leaded linen strop for about 25 easy laps and then around 100 laps on 3-4 different strops to 'refresh the edge.


I always recommend to folks that when it seems that a razor is starting to tug, to hit the strops for a couple of hundred laps before going to the hones. JUST my method and MHO...

This makes me an 'Over-Stropper' I guess...But it's what works for me!

Many variables involved, but what I've found works out for me is that the majority of the time, after finishing up a shave, I will strop on 40 laps on linen, followed with 100 on leather. I've tried different variations, but have found that this routinely gives me the best results. After 6-7 shaves, I hone my razor on a fine coticule for a couple dozen laps with water, and strop accordingly. So far, this has been working.

Originally Posted by Wolfpack34

I always recommend to folks that when it seems that a razor is starting to tug, to hit the strops for a couple of hundred laps before going to the hones. JUST my method and MHO...

And that's why I titled this thread "Cumulative Stropping": For me, with "hand issues", more than thirty laps at any one time is a non-starter; so, it'll take me some seven sessions to make those "couple of hundred laps" -- a two- or three-day process; hence, "cumulative". If I could do that many in one session, I'd never have made my original post.