new.

i am new to this board and new to the traditional method of straight razor shaving, so please bear with me.

i ordered a new strop and oil.

any tips or things i need to do prior to stropping?

and my razor is new, not used, how often do i strop?

thanks.

you strop before every shave. I usually use 40 to 50 strokes 1 stroke is once down and back. you want to go slow at first and be careful not to lift the spine and roll the edge. also go slow to develop technique and not nick that brand new strop. Well anyway hope that helps and welcome to the board and if you need anything just drop me a PM
Doc

30 strokes is more than enough. 20 is the bare minimum and the point of diminishing returns. By the time you get to 30, the edge is as good as it's gonna get from stropping. The only time I go over 30 is when the edge is freshly honed and then it's 35.
On the linen side, 10 is the usual and 15 with a freshly honed edge.

More importantly:
1) If you edge hasn't been professionally honed, send it out for honing. DOVO factory honings are often inadequate.
2) Get something (like a finishing hone or a pasted paddle strop) to touch up the edge every 5-15 shaves, so it stays sharp.
3) What sort of an oil did you get? I only use strop conditioners after repairing a nick. Otherwise, I just rub it with the heel of my hand about 10 times before stropping (natural skin oils condition the strop and the rubbing warms it up for better draw).

You will get many opinions from many people on how many strokes to do. I do 60x and base that on an experiment I did some time ago. You can find it if you do a search for the grand experiment. However everyone agrees you strop everytime before you shave and if you want to can strop after to ensure the edge is dry.

ok so lets say i strop 20-30 strokes prior. is it necessary to strop afterwards?

you guys rule!

no unless you want to but you should always strop before you shave too

nope just before each shave