Quote Originally Posted by Disburden View Post
Another confusing part of this question is that stropping is something that you learn over time, by doing it over and over again. So experiementing with lap counts early, may not even be a valid experiment, as stropping technique becomes better over time and with muscle memory.
Excellent point Nick. For the first 6 months of my straight-shaving life, I was lousy at stropping. I foolishly didn't think it was important, focusing on honing instead, wondering why my fine-honed edges wouldn't last...

Since my Great Stropping Revelation, I do a lot of laps, as fast as I can do them cleanly, 100 or more. It isn't a waste of time to me because I find it relaxing. I might get by with a fraction of this, but I'm getting great results. If I've honed 'em right, my shaving edges improve off the hone with this aggressive stropping, and my honing ability at this point is not slack. If done correctly, I don't think a well-honed razor can be over-stropped. If it isn't done correctly, lap count doesn't matter.