Thread: Stropping technique fast or slow? use the fabric side or no?

Technique trumps speed any day of the week.

Being able to keep the spine from leaving the strop when flipping the blade over is what has stabilized my stropping.

Before that I'd get out of sync. I couldn't coordinate the flipping and changing direction. Of course a late flip means you cut the strop.

I've got a new piece of leather on my English Bridle strop and I haven't cut it in a week or two.

It took me harder to learn this than any other aspect of straight shaving.

I haven't tried replacing scales, sanding and shining the blade, and other such things. Yet.

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

It took me harder to learn this than any other aspect of straight shaving.

Yep. Stropping is Komplicated

It's fun too!

The physicists among us know that friction and heat are definitely related to speed and will make a stropping stroke MORE effective.

Faster is better as long as the touch is light and controlled throughout a perfectly even stroke.

In other words, not too fast and definitely not too slow. That would be the Goldilocks stroke.