Thread: Do I really need a strop?

I've been straight shaving, off and on, for 25+ years. In the early 80s there weren't cool forums like this one and you could pull up a plethora of shaving info from the internet. Everybody I knew, even older relatives, were post safety razor. I had to develop my own sharpening and shaving techniques* through masochistic persistence.

My razors pass the HHT(I thought I invented that) and I only suffer nicks and burns when I'm not paying attention.

So the question is: Would paying 40 or 50 bucks for a good quality leather strop significantly improve my shaving experience?



I use 2000 grit sandpaper to hone and various grades of jewelers rouge on 150 lb cardstock to polish the edge and I strop on the cardstock.

I'd say;

Use whatever works for you! You, obviously, don't NEED a strop.

BTW, I'd love to see a pic of your "set up", sounds very interesting!

Well, if you can shave off 2000 grit paper only using a bit of jewelers rouge on cardboard to polish it, I don't think you'll even notice the effect of a strop! If you are stropping on plain cardstock between shaves and it's working for you, you feel like you're shaving in comfort and you don't feel you're missing anything, I see no reason to change. Stropping on leather vs paper or card stock is really 6 of one and a 1/2 dozen of the other.

I personally would be in serious pain if I tried shaving with a razor that has not seen a finer honing surface than 2000 grit, I use 4000, 8000 and finish on a yellow Coticule stone that could be around 10000 grit and after that will strop on a chrome oxide pasted paddle strop. Final stropping on hanging leather and yes, I can tell the difference after the stropping on plain leather.

As I said though, based on your description, I don't think I'd waste money on a leather strop if what you are doing is working for you, unless you *want* a leather strop. If you are *not* satisfied with your current shaves, I'd humbly suggest you improve your hone selection before buying a strop.


Regards

Christian

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

Well, if you can shave off 2000 grit paper only using a bit of jewelers rouge on cardboard to polish it, I don't think you'll even notice the effect of a strop!

Technically I'm using more than just jeweler's rouge, I use 4 grades of abrasive pastes I've picked up over the years. I don't remember what grit grades they are(industrial plain tubes and 10 years old), I know them by their colors.

I'm thinking about getting some of that Dovo paste. It's probably higher quality than the stuff I've been using and I think it would work with my idiosyncratic sharpening methods.

Suredgefan,

Welcome to SRP!

I've great respect for guys like you. And I think you might be bringing valuable information to this forum. Like with many crafts, a lot of the do's and dont's of straightrazorshaving are dictated by tradition. There are, from an historical viewpoint, probably good reasons for many rules that are advocated on this forums, but it is not always clear what their significance is for nowadays shaving practice.
Stropping on canvas, allowing the blade 48 hours rest between shaves are two good examples of such debatable rules. (I follow them both )
However, if you have never used a clean leather strop in your 25 years of shaving, I think you might be up for an epiphany.

If anything, it 'll keep your razor going for much longer, before it needs a touch-up with the pastes, and I would also guess you 'd get a much more pleasing shave.

I know, out of much more limited experience than you have, that good shaving technique will allow shaving with blades that are far from what is generally called "shaveready" on this forum. Any edge that shaves arm hair, also shaves facial hair in experienced hands. But a properly stropped edge, is what makes it truly enjoyable, in my opinion.

Maybe you should get a practice strop from Tony Miller. I've read nothing but good things about them, and I think they are very fairly priced.

Kind regards,

Bart.

Well they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks so in general I would say if you are getting along fine then you have your own answer. Of course strops are one of those classic shaving gear items considered to be a requirement so I would say get a vintage one off Eboy on the cheap and try it. If you don't like it turn around and sell it and you'll be out a couple bucks and no more.

I think a strop would help a lot, but then again if it did, being 25 years and all, wouldn't that just kinda bum you out?

The Dovo pastes tend to be a bit coarse (Green is 9um, red is 3um).

I'd recommend trying some 1.0 um and 0.5 um diamond pastes from McMaster, listed below (get the water soluble kind). They are about as cheap as the dovo pastes, and you will get more cutting power.

Actually, since the 2000 grit sandpaper you're using is about equal to 9 micron, you may want to try some 3um paste to ease you into the 1 micron a bit easier.

Now then, I'm a relative newbie here, maybe 4 months straight shaving so far, so take my advice for what it's worth. For the first two weeks I never used a strop, just shaved straight off of a 0.5um honed edge. That seemed fine.

I bought a cheap strop, and that thing beat up my edge really bad (viewed under a scope). At that point I foreswore strops, as I thought they were doing more harm than good (in my case it was!). Again I simply shaved off of the honed edge.

I was happy with that situation... these people who strop their razors every shave were obviously obsessive compulsives with too much time on their hands!

So I continued on for another couple of weeks and then ordered a Tony Miller Starter strop. I stropped the razor, and it certainly didn't beat up the edge like the cheap strop did (note to self: DO NOT CHEAP OUT ON A STROP EVER AGAIN!). But I didn't notice any shave improvement.

Then I spent some "quality time" here on SRP (i.e.- goofing off at work)and found out a bit more about stropping. I had just been very lightly stropping my razor across the strop. Now I began to add just a bit of pressure as I stropped, and viola! I started to feel the much ballyhoed "draw" they talk about. The edge acquired a really refined feel to it, the HHT improved from handily popping arm hairs, to silently severing them like a ninja in the night.

So, I would say after 25years, it is time to treat yourself to some new pastes, and a strop. Go ahead, spoil yourself a little!

I'd say if your method has worked for 25+ years...well, if it 'aint broke, don't fix it.

OTOH...if you've never tried using a strop, it might just add a whole new dimension to your straight razor shave. Thus another old adage: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Good luck


Scott

Thanks for the input.

I stumbled on to srp by accident so my shaving isolation is at an end. Orthodoxy exists for a reason, it's probably best. So, I'll be looking to pick up a decent strop and hones in the future.

The strop and pasted strop technique is probably better and faster than mine, but I'll continue to use the cardstock method when traveling because it's so compact and lightweight.