Thread: Don't strop a new TI?

The last TI I got had a page saying the same thing. I thought I'd give it a try and not strop. It wasn't the best shave. The next shave with that razor, with very few passes on the strop, it was as good as a TI could be.

as suggested before,
a good proper stropping can only improve your edge and improve the shave quality,
however improper stropping could ruin a good shave experience,
I don't see the harm in a proper stropping, it can only work to your advantage

I have corresponded with David Loft from TI about this issue.

This is his reply:

1. We make our razors as close to shave ready as we can when they go out of the factory, and with our new sharpening machine and process we think that we come very close to this and closer than any commercial large scale production company has come!

2. We think however, that stropping will help the edge to be smoother and better, but we don't want the inexperienced user to "ruin" his edge before trying it out, so we want all users to actually use the razor as it comes from the factory so that they "experience" the edge that we put on it. They don't even have to do a complete shave, but they should at least test the blade on some part of their face and beard.

2a. Then if they feel that the shave can be improved by stropping, so be it and they can then strop. This will give them a real idea about the actual edge that we have put on at the factory and they can easily compare the new edge that they get from stropping with our factory edge. They can thus see the improvement or not and also find out about their stropping technique and its quality.

2b. We recommend stropping with an unpasted strop or with our green chromium oxide paste and then an unpasted strop if customer decides to strop before reusing.

3. Once razor is in a regular rotation and is performing well, we recommend regular stropping with our 260 paste and/or with an unpasted strop.

Kees,
I think that pretty much clears up the whole question! Thanks for your effort!

Originally Posted by Kees

They can thus see the improvement or not and also find out about their stropping technique and its quality.

That is a point that became clear to me -- I shaved with a brand new, un-stropped, razor (a Revisor) and then shaved the next day after a good stropping.

The difference was profound and, here's the point, it confirmed for me that my stropping technique was at least adequate! So, if you get such a razor be sure to take the opportunity to do a before/after comparison of your stropping.