Quote Originally Posted by Gammaray View Post
My hypothesis is that heating the blade makes it a bit softer, more malleable, and responsive to the burnishing effect of stropping.

You may be right, but I think temperature differences at the microscopic level may have more effect than you think. Give it a try, then let me know your results.
After shaving and rinsing my blade in hot water,130ish degs, it sets fore maybe 10 mins whilst I rinse my brush etc,by than the blade is still warm, maybe 90 degs,Is a diff in the feel for sure (subtle) as I said, no clue as to why.