Thread: Letting the edge rest

Originally Posted by Joe Chandler

I'm not sure why Lynn does it, ....

I do it because Lynn does

Now, cleaning the razor after the shave on the strop is a good idea. I do a full linen/leather stroping after the shave, maybe a bit less strokes on the leather. But... My friend, a straight razor shaver of 25 years has notted that if you use daily palm rubbing to condition your strop, the oils from the hand, which might be accidic, may corrode the edge faster?? Anyways, I am cleaning the razor afterwards buy stroping few trips on towel over my palm.

Nenad

I think the best source of information comes from the old barber manuals.

These are not just trivial books full of old barber tales, but serious professional texts full of information gathered and tested over years of trial and error. These books were written by those who made shaving with a straight razor their livelyhood, not just a hobby or pastime.

Now, what a barber did, or said, after he left barber college is another thing. Not all professionals practice the sound principles they were taught by their teachers. "A" students as well as "C" students often pass their licensing exams, on the first try.

Therefor, some info passed on by "Joe the Barber" may or may not be accurate, but the info found in the professional text, more likely than not, is accurate and reliable.

I imagine that these debates over what techniques are best, and how to do such-and such, are not new, but were probably going on as long as there have been barbers.

I suggest that this is at least one reason why such a thing as a "Standard Textbook of Barbering" came into exisitense. Probably some in the profession wanted a degree of uniformity and standardization to bring the profession of barbering to a greater level of professionalism and respect. And also to end the debates.

Now, all that being said, I can't find any reference in my "Standard Textbook of Barbering", or the Moler Barbers Manual, regarding the resting of a straight razor. I'll conclude that if resting the razor were really an important issue, it would have been covered in the professional texts. The texts DO mention stropping during the shave. They DON'T mention anything about stropping after the shave, but if it's ok during, then why not after.

I'll even add, at risk of life and limb, that just "doing what works for you" may in fact work for you, but may not be the best policy if you really want to achieve proficiency with a straight razor. I know we are not professional barbers, but I sure want to get the same quality shave as a pro barber would have given.

The old barbers who wrote the texts already figured out what works. Why not follow them? I don't think their teachings will lead you over a cliff into the sea.

I hear the stones headed my way....

Scott

Originally Posted by honedright

Now, all that being said, I can't find any reference in my "Standard Textbook of Barbering", or the Moler Barbers Manual, regarding the resting of a straight razor. I'll conclude that if resting the razor were really an important issue, it would have been covered in the professional texts. The texts DO mention stropping during the shave. They DON'T mention anything about stropping after the shave, but if it's ok during, then why not after...

From "The Practice and Science of Standard Barbering," Ken-Delle Barber School, Harrisburg Pennsylvania, 1951, page 56

Care of Razors. Razors will maintain their cutting quality if care is taken to prevent corrosion of the extremely fine edge. After use, they should be stropped and a little castor oil applied over the cutting edge, thus preventing the corrosive action of moisture.

At least one text recommends stropping after the shave. As you noted, some theorists postulate that this is damaging to the razor, the strop, the shave, etc. However, at least some professional barbers did not think so.

Howard,

Thank you for that info. It fits my conclusion that if it's ok to strop during, then why not after. Interesting to see it backed up in a professional text.

I should point out too, that my deduction (now substantiated by your reference) was based on a fundamental learned from a barber text and not based on the"what works for me" school.

It also shows that information can change, or be added, over time. My texts predate yours by a couple of decades. Still we shouldn't just pull ideas about straight razor use out of thin air. Our methods should be based on sound principles, most of which are covered in the texts.

Now if someone can find a reliable reference for resting the blade between shaves, I'll gladly consider myself corrected.

Scott

It just seems to me that if moisture is left on the razor after shaving though it would seem that stropping would remove that moisture or so it made sense 100 years age with better magnification we know that the surface water will quickly evaporate anyway but the moisture that will start the corrosion process is the small stuff that settle in the striations and fins and imperfections in the edge and I don't think all the stropping in the world is going to remove it. Hopefully some oil placed on the edge will displace it but you never know. I have a razor that has an area near the toe of the blade but away from the edge that is kind of ,well, abraided and the last time I used it even though I use liberal amounts of sterol on it it had develped into a rust spot. I cleaned it up and used some Russells rust free on and it seems to protect it better. So my point is once moisture gets into microscopic areas its almost impossible to get it out.

Also as to the old barber texts written 100 or more years ago remember at one time the medical textbooks recommended bleeding people. It was state of the art thinking. As time goes on we improve our understanding of things and practices that were thought of as deregeur need to be updated and changed.

thebigspendur,

I agree, times change, and so does our information base. But don't forget, we are talking about the exact same tool used by those barbers 100 years ago. The straight razor, and I would say it's use and care, hasn't changed that much, if at all. And, I would say, that those old barbers, when it came to using the straight razor, probably had it down pat. Would you agree?

I would further add that with the decline of barbershops and their services, really taking off after WWII and peaking during the 1960's and 70's, the knowledge base regarding straight razor use has declined as well. Thanks to SRP some of this knowledge is being rekindled, but I think we should still be looking back to the old texts.

Scott

Originally Posted by alfborge

Just out of curiousity, why do you strop after the shave when you're (probably) stropping before the next shave...

I have seen pics of the instructions that came with two different vintage razors that instruct the user to strop the razor after the shave.

Just my two cents,

Originally Posted by randydance062449

I have seen pics of the instructions that came with two different vintage razors that instruct the user to strop the razor after the shave.

Just my two cents,

It appears that people have been shaving many different ways for a long time. Some of them have been letting their razors rest for a week between shaves. Some have used the same razor every day for years. Some strop after a shave. Some don't.

As far as I can tell none of them have had a razor explode or had their face fall off from incorrect practice.

Originally Posted by Howard Wallace

As far as I can tell none of them have had a razor explode or had their face fall off from incorrect practice.

Nice observation. I'll make sure I follow one of these non-exploding techniques. I'll probably find one practice I feel comfortable with and follow it.

THe advice about stropping comes from no less than Dovo itself: see paragraph 5 at http://www.dovo.com/e/seiten/faq.html#2. So, the simple answer is that it is not bad advice.

Stropping too soon after a shave will result in unnecessary removal of material and will shorten the life of a razor. What does that mean? A razor that is well taken care of could last three lifetimes. You do this stropping approacjh and you may actually outlive your razor.

Why would you want to strop that way? The best explanation I've heard is that it cleans the edge and squeezes out moisture, avoiding microscopic oxidation. That sounds pretty good to me, because I've had to remove a lot of material from edges to get past oxidation. So, this one may actually be a standoff.

We have to give some credence to Dovo (unless you're a skeptic and believe that they're trying to get us to oxidize our edges so they can sell more razors). So, I did some experimenting. With all my razors, I carefully dried the edges with a towel (using side pressure and being careful not to dull the edge) and sprayed with Clippercide after use (it contains a penetrating lubricant). Some razors I put away and don't use them again for months. But when I take one of those out I check it under a microscope for oxidation. I haven't had it on a single razor.

What I do now is strop only before a shave and don't reuse a razor for at least 3 days. Careful drying and Clippercide follow every shave. And maybe some of my razors will make it to my great grandson.