Thread: (Paddle) stropping help needed

Oh Hi, SRP! I'm the new guy.

I've been straight razor shaving for about half a year now and I truly like it. I have two razors, but I almost exclusively use my wedgy. It came shaveready and it shaved wonderful but lately I've been having problems. I narrowed it down to my stropping technique; something I hadn't payed much attention too!

I nicked my first (cheapest) hanging strop and supplemented it with a Tony Miller 3" wide combo paddle strop. I liked it, but it seems my edge didn't. I got loads more irritation and thought the razor needed a touch-up, but stropping on the hanging (100x linen + 100x leather) strop again fixed everything. The paddle is undamaged and flat as a pancake so I can safely assume my technique is the problem. Now I know the difference, I get less irritation after I've used the hanging strop.

Is stropping on a paddle really different from a hanging strop? I've included a picture of my razor on the paddle. I do make sure the stabilizer doesn't touch the leather because that would lift the edge. Neither the spine nor blade are warped, but it has a very small smile.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, because now I do know that proper stropping is important.