Hello everyone!

I'm new to straight shaving, and so far I'm loving it! I'm a little overly obsessed, my wife would say, as I keep feeling and judging my cheeks and chin to see where I need to improve and such, but overall I feel I'm doing well. I think she has come to fear the "How does this look?" question, ha ha.

I started with a cheap shavette, to see if I even liked it before dropping the big bucks, but 2 weeks ago I got my first straight and strop in. I've watched multiple videos, read through the threads, and even practices stropping with the unloaded shavette to make sure I was ready to strop without instantly ruining my blade. It seems that every time I shave, I get better at stropping, and the blade travels smoother and closer and I get better results. So while I need improvement, I am improving, and I think I'll have the hang of it soon. Since it's 2.5" wide and my razor is somewhere around 3", I am using a cross stroke - 20-25 strokes on the canvas, 60 strokes on the leather. I am experimenting with holding the strop flat versus giving it a slight angle towards my right hand as I saw Lynn Abrams do in his YouTube video about stropping. I'm not sure which I'm more comfortable with yet.

But there is one thing that I haven't seen mentioned in any of the threads or videos regarding stropping that I noticed on my strop today. I use a Fromm 2.5" top grade cowhide strop with a canvas back. I'm right-handed, so I hold with my left. Today, I noticed after stropping that the cowhide is peeling for about 4", roughly 2" from the handle of the strop, from the edge to about 3/8" in. And by peeling, I mean like if you got a sun burn then rubbed the dry skin so that it rolls up as it flakes off (disturbing analogy, I know, but it's the best way I could think to describe it). Along the spine of my razor there was a fine brown dust. It's not worn through - looks more like it's scuffed in this region. And it's not nicked or cut and today was probably the smoothest, easiest shave I've had yet, so I don't think the edge is hitting it in a way it shouldn't be.

Does anyone know what I am doing to cause this and what I need to adjust about my technique to prevent it? Am I putting too much pressure on the spine on my stroke?