Thread: Stropping is King

(This is really for the newbies, but I'm putting it here for topic appropriateness.)

Jack La Lanne has a saying, "Excercise is king, nutrition is queen".

I think what he means is that both are important, but if you don't exercise propperly, you won't fully bennefit from propper nutrition.

Well, along the same lines, I believe that, "stropping is king, honing is queen".

And much for the same reasons.

While both are important for an excellent shave, if you can't propperly strop, even an expertly honed razor, by a so called "Honemeister", will fail to give expected results.

"Honemeister" is used on this site by many to proclaim straight razor expertise, but I think the term "Stropmeister" should hold at least the same status.

There are some, maybe one, who repeatedly claims that he can never get his razors to pass the HHT even though a honemeister has prepared the razor for him. He claims that he can shave with said razors, but I wonder if maybe he, and those experiencing the same, are missing something?
Could it be that even though the razor was prepared by a "Honemeister", that same person is also a "strop-flopster"? Or maybe the razor was sent out perfectly honed and stropped, but was subsequently subjected to the work of a "strop-flopster."

Of course some may be better at honing, and some at stropping, but all of us should strive to be proficient at both if we expect to get the best possible results.

All of my razors pass the HHT everytime, all of the time, and shave "baby butt smooth". I have made the claim that I can go for up to a year or more without re-honing my razor, and keep it HHT shave sharp by stropping alone on a plain old, untreated strop. That is no exaggeration and no joke.

If you find yourself honing and re-honing your razors to keep a shave ready edge, or are dependent on abrasive pastes, then possibly you need to reconsider your stropping technique. If you can't go for at least six months without re-honing, then it's quite possible that although you may, or maynot, be a "Honemeister", you still need to work on becomming a "Stropmeister".

Good luck,

Scott