Thread: A bit of heresy

To strop or not to strop? The question was answered long ago, right? Well, I admit to stropping far less than I used to... And at times I'll skip it entirely without a loss of a good shave.

For some time I faithfully stropped 20-40 times before shaving, then was in a rush one morning and--thinking to my peril--skipped stropping. Wow. No difference. I used the same razor again the next morning w/o stropping. Same great shave.

Now (empirical knowledge, I suppose) I rarely strop, instead spending 6-10 minutes on occasional weekends methodically stropping my entire 10-razor rotation array. Frankly, gentlemen, it's faster than the pre-shave strop I felt obligated to perform.

Anyone else make a similar breakthrough? Heresy, I know.

We are going to burn you at the stake right after we weigh you down with rocks and throw you in a well! LOL

Sometimes I can miss a stropping, but it shows! Besides I need something to do as the warm and soothing lather sits and inundates my beard. Razor maintenance while I wait a minute seems good to me.

Haha! You may have hit on the truth. Stropping away for a while allows the soap to soften beard hairs. I grant you that. But: Does stropping really sharpen the razor? We all believe it does. But... I haven't found it to be true.

I'm sure the right lab technician could quantify the effect, although I've never seen such a test results. In the meantime, I hate to deflate balloons, but stropping an already sharp razor is... certainly meditative... but not a guarantee of a closer shave (imho).

No, I haven't notice that.

James.

So. You have a Friodur. No Sweat! Better strop it good soon! ....Seriously, I thought I would be lazy for a bit once, and cut down on the strop. After all, I got good shaves! That is, until the old rotation came back around a few times. I stropped them all good and again before shaving. Everything was back! Stropping is Key, IMO. Strangely, I enjoy stropping. Sometimes I give them all 50, just to feel them. Yes. Sick, I know!

Told you it was heresy! But before the crowd assembles and starts looking for the tar and feathers, try it yourself. Use a good pre-shave, lather up, let a couple minutes pass and then shave, skipping the usual strop. Use a sharp razor. See for yourself.

Speaking as someone who has a really coarse beard, I can tell a noticable difference between a stropped and unstropped razor. But different faces and beards may not notice much difference. It's truly a "your mileage may vary" thing.

Not Stropping. Sounds like the neighbor with the new car that says: you know you only have to change the oil every 25,000 miles. Sure.!!!
It'll come around to Bit you!

pcg --
As the Grand High Poo-Bah of the Saints of Stropping, I hereby condemn thee to an eternity of class-5 razor burn! J/K!

Pcg, I'm with you.
I don't think that you need to strop.Unfortunately there are still people in this world that believe in it. It is important, though, that we preserve the history & the equipment of the old timers. Send me the strop. I will refurbish it , if necessary & see that it takes its rightfull place in a Shave Den dedicated to the old methods of straight razor shaving.