Originally Posted by Joe Lerch
That's a great experiment, Alan! And I think the results are pretty convincing.
It supports Dovo's recommendation not to strop at the end of a shave, because the edge is too misaligned and you'll end up breaking the fin, and honing a lot more than you have to. But after the edge recovers, it's only slightly misaligned and can be stropped.
I also realize why barbers stropped mid-shave. The idea was not to let the edge get too misaligned. Then, they could use it all day.
So, should you strop at the end of the shave to squeeze out moisture and clean the edge? You can if there's not a lot of misalignment. And if you've got a tough beard and always have a misaligned edge after a shave, strop mid-shave so you can strop at thend of the shave.