Thread: Stropping technique

Originally Posted by Moleman

After half a year of daily straight shaving and after having succesfully honed about 30 razors, I come to the conclusion, that stropping is the most complicated thing of straight razor shaving.

I am stil experimenting with stropping. In the beginning I pulled my strop as taut as it can get and stropped the blade with a careful touch to the leather. Well, it works, but you can't get the maximum out of a properly honed blade that way. Seraphim's video helped me a lot. His strop is not extremely taut, but it isn't loose either. According to my experience, the strop should be held taut, but only just enough to be parallel to the floor. During stropping there should be a little sag. You can then still strop the razor flat to the leather's surface, but that little bit of give enables the leather to reach the bevel, so it can re-align the edge.

Super-light touch, as I did for a long time is not enough. There should be a noticeable draw, you must here a stropping sound. The last days, I stopped my razors less carefully, not with brutal force, but with much more give in the strop and mor draw. They all gained incredebly in sharpness.

I will continue this way, and see what happens. Of course there's always a certain risk of dulling an edge, but I am able to re-hone the blade then. If possible, I would recommend beginners, to practice with a dull blade, just to gett the right feel, just to see what has to be done, to achieve that special "stropping sound"

Well, for the love of God, there are finally 2 of us that think the same way.

This is a good thread.

I can only add that whatever you do you simply have to repeat it, consistently from that day forward with that razor. Its true that too much sag will dull the edge. Too much tautness and I sometimes find the stropping ineffective. With my strop if its really taut the strops imperfections and lack of flatness become highlighted. Its almost as if you suddenly need to lap/flatten your strop as well as your hone.

Although I often find that after I shape a blade with a little sag I can strop with a super taut strop I have always been nagged about the historical documentation that indicates that the hanging strop was created in response to the full hollow razor, nullifying the paddle strops usefulness. This is a big clue, I think, in the theory that there is more to stropping a full hollow then just a board flat strop.