I've been wondering about this one myself.

One school of thought (the one included in the Barbers' Manual in the Help Files) directs the razor to be stroppped after each use, which I think I recall my old barber, Jim used to do, but I'm not sure.

Another school of thought suggests that after shave stropping can remove some cutting fins as it realigns others thus making the razor dull prematurely.

Which is correct?

It seems to me that the only way to be sure would be to have identical razors of as many different brands as possible treated exactly the same except for this crucial difference ... one would ALWAYS be stropped after shaving and the other would NEVER be stropped after. Whichever holds its edge the best would be a razor in support of a methodology.

The whole project should only take a few months if enough people weighed in on the experiment. Alternate each razor for about two months with no honing touch ups and report back here. I'll be using two similar razors as I haven't got identical ones so my results will not be as trusted as somebody using two 6/8 TI's for example, but since they will both be vintage Solingen razors (Dubl Duck Special and a Böker) it should produce reliable results.

Who's with me?

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