Thread: comments on stropping technique

Yikes! In the first clip it looks to me like the razor and strop are being ruined.

Way way too much pressure, too stiff, too loud-sounds like sand-paper!

Stropping is a light, gentle action in which only the strop leather is tight. The blade is held very lightly on the leather on which it makes a sound that my wife (who is no fan of my new-found love of SR shaving!) characterizes as "oddly comforting."

Agree with the suggestion above to get the flip right before doing anything else.

Stropping doesn't require a month of training! It's not hard, but does require a couple points of attention. Tight strop, light pressure. My SRD Premium I strop has been used now maybe 200 times. It has 1 nick on it, and the leather is developing a kind of changed color and texture, but not wearing like the one in this clip. And I'm not a super-skilled stropologist, but my razors for the last month have been wicked sharp and creamy smooth.

In the second clip it looks to me like after the flip, the razor moves a bit with the spine off the strop. I try to be very intentional about turning the razor on the spine, keeping the spine on the leather, and making sure that's right before the next light, slickery stroke.

It's getting much better. Slow down a bit and smooooooth things out. There is no need to speed up going down the strop only to slow down at a crash pace at the end of the stroke.

Think more like the blade is "skating" along the strop, not drag racing.

It might be a good habit to always apply the spine first onto the strop, then just before the edge touches down start the smooth motion down the strop.

I might even suggest moving the spine back and forth on the strop for a bit, simply as practice.

Also, make sure that the belt you are using is flat and smooth, no grooves in it. It might have been an optical illusion (and I'm exhausted) but I thought I saw parallel grooves.

I would like to politely disagree slightly with some of the above posts. Whether the razor shaves great or not in the first video you are tearing apart your strop. A great shave is an important point, but, having a strop to use by the end of the week is also an important consideration.

Slow down, the razors blade should lay flat on its side, thus spine and edge remain equally in contact with the...strop????

Get yourself a wider...strop. The one you are currently using in that second video is only giving you about a half inch of safe working surface.

Less pressure too I think.

All in all a vast improvement, visually at least, from the first video.


Mick