Thread: Can I strop

Originally Posted by bluesman7

I do linen and leather after and leather before. I like the idea of leather before storing the razor as I believe the edge picks up a bit of oil from the strop that helps prevent oxidation.

thats the thing i generally lightly oil my razors and then wipe the excess off before storing them.

Originally Posted by shanky887614

thats the thing i generally lightly oil my razors and then wipe the excess off before storing them.

Maybe if I had a lot of razors or if I knew it was going to sit for a while (weeks) I might oil my razors but for day to day use it seems a bit like work for works sake to me.

And yes the razor resting debate is one with no definitive answer but anecdotally I don't think anyone here has proved it necessary. As a user of predominately one razor I don't see any difference if it has sat for a day or so or not between stroppings/uses.

I only use leather as a strop as I found no benefit in any of the fabrics I tried, though admittedly this isn't many.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

Maybe if I had a lot of razors or if I knew it was going to sit for a while (weeks) I might oil my razors but for day to day use it seems a bit like work for works sake to me.

And yes the razor resting debate is one with no definitive answer but anecdotally I don't think anyone here has proved it necessary. As a user of predominately one razor I don't see any difference if it has sat for a day or so or not between stroppings/uses.

I only use leather as a strop as I found no benefit in any of the fabrics I tried, though admittedly this isn't many.

ill be honest because of the work i do i sometimes only shave a couple times a month, im still smarter than the rest when i leave it that long as somehow it always grows reasonably even

Only linen after shaving and linen followed by leather before a shave as it is said that some leathers contain corrosive substances that stayed behind after tanning.

Originally Posted by Kees

Only linen after shaving and linen followed by leather before a shave as it is said that some leathers contain corrosive substances that stayed behind after tanning.

that's an interesting point. most people just use the oils from their palm to condition their strop but i've seen finger print shaped rust spots on things like fire arms before.

Originally Posted by tintin

that's an interesting point. most people just use the oils from their palm to condition their strop but i've seen finger print shaped rust spots on things like fire arms before.

using the oils from your hands isnt a great idea, it tarnishes metal like you wouldn't believe.

when i was playing in a band 90% of people had marks on there instruments from not cleaning it off properly and leaving it for too long.

doesnt help a lot are plated, mine is solid silver so it isnt as bad but still

In addition to oil your skin secretions contain water and uric acid and a host of other by products of metabolism. They don't seem to affect stops though since barbers used this method 100 years ago and those strops lasted forever.

You can strop anytime you want really. It's the total strokes and it doesn't matter if it broken up before and after though I'd always be doing a few strokes before the shave.

I used to know this guy who used to strop in his sleep and he dreamed about stropping too. But that's another story for another time.

Gentlemen,

The only reason I strop after the shave is to make sure my blade is dry. Usually 10 strokes on fabric and leather do it. Before the shave, 30 strokes on linen and 60 on leather are sufficient.

I only have leather and strop before (20 - 30) and after (60 - 80), the reason I do a lot after shaving is because I want to pick up the razor and go when I shave in the morning. I rub my strop down with my arm before starting to clean the strop of foreign objects and to condition it. Interesting post though to see what everyone does.