Thread: Ever seen this? No stropping after?

This is from Knifecenter .com. The Underlining is mine.
Anyone ever heard of this? I know I have heard before that a razor should be rested for up to 48 hours after use, but never heard that meant it shouldn't be stropped...

STROPPING TECHNIQUE Strop only before shaving, after the edge could 'grow' for at least 24 hours, burt preferably 48 hours. If you strop the edge immediately after shaving, the misaligned microserrations behave as a burr, which will break off and penetrate the leather, which will turn into sandpaper. If you honed just before stropping, clean the blade with water and soap and dry with a cloth without touching the edge; this too is to prevent small metal parts to get stuck into the strop, which can damage the edge while stropping. Keep the tang between index finger and thumb and keep those fingers stretched. Place the blade flat on the strop. In case of a hanging strop, keep it under tension continuously, because if you let it hang through, you will create a round and therefore blunt cutting edge. Pull the blade over the strop away from the cutting edge and in the direction of the back. If you strop the other way in the direction of the edge (which is the case during honing), you will cut through the strop, or you will cause knicks which will damage the razor. In the course of this stroke, take care that the complete cutting edge has touched the strop. The pressure of the knife on the strop should not exceed the weight of the knife, to prevent rounding and thus blunting the cutting edge. At the end of the stroke, keep the blade in contact with the strop, and swing the blade 180 degrees, causing it to rotate around the back; the back should keep in contact with the strop. Then do a stroke in the other direction. Repeat this about 10-60 times. Do this procedure first on the canvas (about 10 times) next on the leather.
This communication reflects some personal conclusions of a private person; I have no commercial or private binding with any of the above mentioned firms.
-- Arthur Boon

Many guys on here have shaved day after day using the same razor with no ill effects.
That thing about the edge resting for 48 hours or whatever it is is an old wives' tale--probably started by razor manufacturers back in the old days to convince people to buy more razors.

Leaving the edge to rest is, as I recall, an older school of thought which has since been disproved.

I used one razor daily for months with no problems..!

Originally Posted by Stubear

Leaving the edge to rest is, as I recall, an older school of thought which has since been disproved.

I used one razor daily for months with no problems..!

I was wondering if the application of very hot water to clean the blade may have led to this thought. We know heat expands metal, there is no argument there. If we rinse the blade with very hot water to get the soap/cream off the blade,would this not expand the metal? How would the expansion of the steel due to the application of heat affect the stropping of the edge? Would a cold edge strop differently? Since the edge had small serrations and is so fine how much heat would it actually take to make them expand and as a result move in different directions? If you strop the edge at this point, what happens when the blade cools?

Just some food for thought.

This is the kind of thing I've started filing under "Making It Way Harder Than It Already Is."

I have been doing 20 round trips on the leather for all of the time I've been straight razor shaving. I believe it will help remove any micro gunk that a rinse and wipe will leave. So far so good. As far as letting the blade rest between shaves ..... I don't know for sure but I think it is , as others have said, a myth.

As we say, an old barbers tale.

Originally Posted by souschefdude

If you strop the edge immediately after shaving, the misaligned microserrations behave as a burr, which will break off and penetrate the leather, which will turn into sandpaper.
This communication reflects some personal conclusions of a private person; I have no commercial or private binding with any of the above mentioned firms.
-- Arthur Boon

The purpose of stropping is to re-align the "microserrations" .

Maybe someone with a 200X USB camera could search on a well used strop, one which was used to strop a blade after the shave, and look for evidence.

Yeah, I too would rank as old-time urban legend.

Aside from the fact that, while a microscopic layer of oxidation may re-form on the blade after use, steel can't 'grow' more steel...

...I doubt that, back in the day, barbers set aside each of their straights for 1-2 days after shaving just one person. And they certainly weren't buying new strops on a weekly basis.

Sure steel 'dust' and oxidation particles will build up on the strop - that's the main purpose of stropping after all: to help realign the edge and refurbish it by removing oxidation, micro-scale scratches, nicks, serrations inflicted on the edge caused by the hairs (much like a cutlery steel is used to remove and folding, chips, etc. in a knife edge). But the build up of steel and oxidation particulate (which can probably be cleaned) would probably take years... even decades... to amount to anything worth worrying about.