Thread: A bit of heresy

Plus, if we stop Stropping what are they going to do with all that 'left over' butt and head leather.(:-( ok not a good reason. Sorry.

With a disclaimer that I strop before every shave this is from the Iwasaki manual on honing Nihonkamisori.
I'm don't know if these thoughts apply equally to Western razors

"Before stropping, though, shave-test the edge a bit. If it shaves well, there's no reason to strop. In the barbering world, there is a habit of stropping an edge no matter how it shaves, but just as we don't hone an edge that doesn't need it, we shouldn't strop an edge that doesn't need it, either. I know some who shave up to ten people without stropping."

Originally Posted by Firefighter2

Maybe it's the technique you're using, I find it hard to believe proper stropping will ruin a razor.

oh yeah, it was technique alright, another common term for it is rolling the edge i do believe. It was my very first attempt at stropping, just after my very eighth bourbon.

Having started this thread my conclusion is that, really, stropping before every shave, more than sharpening your razor, softens your beard. The longer that soap has to work its way in, the smoother your shave. Stropping 30-40 times allows at least several minutes to pass, which works its magic--on your beard if not your razor.

Of course I know this opinion is utterly counter to the habits most of us have formed. And I admit that I genuinely love stropping. It's almost meditative. Bit I remain unconvinced that it makes much of a difference in regards to creating a better edge.

Now you are talking sense and now we wont have to burn you as a witch.

Originally Posted by pcg

Having started this thread my conclusion is that, really, stropping before every shave, more than sharpening your razor, softens your beard. The longer that soap has to work its way in, the smoother your shave. Stropping 30-40 times allows at least several minutes to pass, which works its magic--on your beard if not your razor.

Of course I know this opinion is utterly counter to the habits most of us have formed. And I admit that I genuinely love stropping. It's almost meditative. Bit I remain unconvinced that it makes much of a difference in regards to creating a better edge.

And I remain unconvinced that stropping doesn't make a difference in improving an edge. I convinced myself that stropping does make a difference. YMMV!

Originally Posted by pcg

Having started this thread my conclusion is that, really, stropping before every shave, more than sharpening your razor, softens your beard. The longer that soap has to work its way in, the smoother your shave. Stropping 30-40 times allows at least several minutes to pass, which works its magic--on your beard if not your razor.

Of course I know this opinion is utterly counter to the habits most of us have formed. And I admit that I genuinely love stropping. It's almost meditative. Bit I remain unconvinced that it makes much of a difference in regards to creating a better edge.

This would be pretty easy to test.

Some people, like myself, strop before shave prep. After I lather, I shave right away.

Originally Posted by honedright

And I remain unconvinced that stropping doesn't make a difference in improving an edge. I convinced myself that stropping does make a difference. YMMV!

It definitely makes a difference. You can literally see the change in the edge if you have good eyesight, and you could see it with a loupe if you didn't.

One only needs to shave their arm in both directions with a freshly honed edge, then strop, and if you find that stropping doesn't make the edge shave arm hair a lot easier, then some research needs to be done about what's wrong with the strop. Good smooth broken in horse butt will move a chromium oxided edge up a full step or two, though a strop that isn't a great performer may seem to make no difference.

After that first strop, though, you can definitely go for a while before you strop again if you'd like to.

If the strop isn't improving the edge, though, it should be a key indicator to someone that something isn't right.

Good point, Dave, but off topic. Nowhere did I say that stropping makes no difference. Of course it does. My OP simply noted that I have found that stropping isn't required before every shave. Somewhere in this thread I mentioned that I usually strop my entire rotation of the week's razors on a the weekend. I then skip stropping those particular razors for a couple times. My razors tend to be pretty sharp and a couple shaves doesn't change that appreciably. When necessary, I'll break out the usual 7-12 razors I use consistently and re-strop the bunch.

It's not required every shave, but the edge will be better if you do strop, and you have a good quality stropping medium.

Sometimes I don't do it, either, but usually I do.

I usually keep a very fine edge also, for the most part because somewhere in my head I believe the wear to the razor will ultimately be less. the strop doesn't damage the edge or materially wear it in terms of doing it harm, if it did, the strop would be black with metal particles. It certainly does "point" the edge in a specific direction, and the easiest way to tell that is with a hair test on both sides of a blade, then strop properly and do it again. An edge not properly stropped may do much better on one side than the other, but one properly stropped will do excellent on both sides.

And on shave #3, it will do better with keenness having been stropped.

I've never stropped after applying lather, so that isn't the effect to me. I strop before I take a shower, and always go straight from the shower to the sink to shave as fast as I can possibly get there (out of laziness for other prep).

I should've read backwards, but I was also too lazy for that - i would never have guessed that this was a contentious thread.