So we spend hours honing our razors, trying to get them to pass the hanging hair test, arm hair test, thumbnail test... And then when we're ready to shave, we slap the blade on the leather 30 times and figure we're done stropping.

OK, I'll speak for myself here. That's what I was doing until a few weeks ago. Occasionally I would try to use the HHT after stropping, but a good HHT pass didn't always equate to a good shave.

Then I read a description of the thumbpad test by Scott (honedright). It was the best set of instructions I've come across, and after a little experimentation I was able to get this test to work for the first time. I thought it was worth pulling his instructions out of the thread they were buried in.

Here's what he said:

Thumb Pad Test (after stropping):

Lightly and carefully touch straight down onto the edge of the razor with the moistened thumb pad (do not move the thumb sideways or back and forth, just directly straight down. Do not press the thumb down, just a light feather touch). If the edge is trully keen, it will feel sort of sticky because the sharp edge is catching the moist skin.

It helps if you lightly touch multiple times (sort of like lightly tapping on the edge) as a single touch will often not deliver enough sensory info. This requires lots of practice because the beginner usually doesn't know exactly what they are feeling for. But once you feel it, you won't forget it.
I've tried the TPT by gently brushing the blade perpendicular to the edge and also parallel to it. I was pretty much always able to feel a little bite, and it didn't correspond to a comfortable shave for me.

But this sticky feeling he describes does. If I feel it, I get a great shave. If not, I get irritation and the blade feels a little rough.

This has led to a huge improvement in my shaves, both in consistency and quality. It's helpful to have a way to assess the edge as you're stropping. I'm finding that I can do 100 laps and have a bad edge just as likely as I can do 30 and have a good one. Sometimes 30 laps is enough; other times I need more. Without the TPT, I wouldn't have a way to know whether the razor was ready or not.

Eventually I hope I'll be able to tell whether a razor is ready to go by how it feels on the strop. Until I reach that level, the thumb pad test will be a daily ritual for me.

Just thought I'd share,
Josh