Thread: To Strop or not to Strop..that is the question

Easy now guys, spare something for "quip of the day"

Stropping... on the hour, every hour, without exception...

It's really easy these days with smart phones... just set your alarm to go off every hour, then strop every blade you have. 100 laps linen, 200 laps leather. Then after 50 minutes of stropping, get 10 minutes of product work or sleep, then repeat.

For anyone doing anything less... amateurs Go back you your cartridges, the world of straight shaving isn't for you... If you are not living it, you are faking it lol.

Originally Posted by AndrewJM

Stropping... on the hour, every hour, without exception...

It's really easy these days with smart phones... just set your alarm to go off every hour, then strop every blade you have. 100 laps linen, 200 laps leather. Then after 50 minutes of stropping, get 10 minutes of product work or sleep, then repeat.

For anyone doing anything less... amateurs Go back you your cartridges, the world of straight shaving isn't for you... If you are not living it, you are faking it lol.

Suddenly I don't feel very welcome here anymore

Some folks do seem to get a little strop-happy. Ever had a barbershop shave? The barbers give the thing a half-dozen strokes, tops. I'd be the last to argue that barbers are necessarily experts in this particular endeavor, but still--their example says something. The only time I strop more than, say, 10 or 15 laps is just after honing. Even then, I'm not convinced I'm adding much to the effort.

But hey, stropping is good wrist exercise! Possibly better than hoisting single malts.

I don't know about current barbers, but the old-timers had a lot of shaves to get through. In addition, they did many many shaves per day, whereas we do one a day if we are lucky. I've no doubt they developed keen insights into stropping with regards speed, tension, number of laps etc under those conditions that have taken us years to ponder. Plus they were trained, of course.

I'm in the same boat - I rarely do more than say 20 laps before or after a shave. But I do them each and every time. No skipping of the stropping.

Personally I think if you want to be strop-happy, go for your life. You aren't hurting anything, and you are gaining valuable muscle memory.

James.

I rarely go beyond 35 strokes, been getting one pass shaves for years.

I do strop mainly before shaving, but also after shaving. I have made a custom paddle strop dedicated to post shave treatment where I pass the razor 5-6 times after every shave just to eliminate any trace of humidity on the edge.

The true reason for stropping is not that I am convinced it makes the edge better, but because I like the rite of stropping. This vintage retro habit of stropping before shaving fills my senses with sweet and human feelings that I cannot describe in words.