Stropping problems

I started out my straight shaving adventure with a weathered, beaten but usable Whitt Two-In-One strop. I've managed to get by with my TI on it for my occasional straight shaves over the past year. The razor always passes the HHT test for a majority of the blade length.

Yesterday, I received my new TM Heirloom 3" Honey Brown strop. I did 20 laps on the linen (a first for me) and 25 on the leather. At that point, no part of my TI's blade would pass the HHT. I went ahead and shaved with it, but it wasn't very smooth.

What have I done? Does a strop have a break in period? I used the same technique as I do with my old beater strop, but with an even light hand. :confused:

No break in period to speak of on the honey brown but it will get better with age/use. Linen on a TM is very textured and if you applied too much weight to the razor while stropping it on the linen you can dull the razor. I would advise that you rub the surface smoother with a pumice stone.

I fall into the bracket of "nothing is perfect", which means I dress all my strops even when new to get them to the way I prefer. Tony will advise you on his preferred approach to use of his strops.

PuFF