when I was first learning to strop I watched videos on you tube and they all mentioned that the better you get the faster you can go, which is true I have learned to go quite quickly and still produce a nice shaving edge. However, I find that even when I am sure to use the full length of the strop I produce an even sharper edge when I slow it down a bit. I believe that I am placing the edge on the strop more purely than when I am going quickly. Perhaps it is only that I have not refined the technique enough to go quickly. Especially with the fabric side of the strop, I find a nice smooth slow(er) stroke really hones in the edge very nicely as opposed to a quick fast stroke. When I switch to the leather side I go quicker than the fabric side. Also, previously I did not ever use the fabric side and found that after about two weeks of regular shaving that I needed to take it to the stone. When I began using the fabric side I could go about a month without using the stone again and it still had a crisp sharp blade. Now, that is with 50 strokes on the fabric side and about 40 on the leather side directly afterwards. This has produced (for me) better results than even 80 strokes on just the leather side.