Thread: 'Aggressiveness' of strops and razor edges?

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

I will not touch my razors to a linen strop after honing, I'm happy with the idea that the hone has kept the edge straight and only do a very light stropping on leather. After the shave, I wipe the blade clean with a cotton terry towel and then do a few very light strokes on a linen strop to dry the very edge.

The 1961 barber manual on honing/stropping excerpt PDF says to strop on leather only after honing. They recommend linen and then leather once the razor has been used for shaving. I followed this advice for a long while, then speaking with one of the premier pro honers I was surprised to find out that he does linen/leather after honing.

Says it knocks off any divots or anomalies (the linen) after the honing. So I tried it both ways, I haven't come to a conclusion, so I stick with leather like my friend the Kaptain. All stropping once the razor is shaving is done linen/leather, but, following the shave I rinse and dry with a paper towel, then leather only to get the striations in the bevel dry. Different strokes for different folks.

Member DaveW, and maybe Utopian IIRC, have said that a razor can be well maintained for a long period of continuous use by stropping alone. I can't say through my own experience because I rotate so many it is difficult to keep track.

Same here Jimmy

I went with Leather only after honing for quite some time, then it occurred to me that the linen would find any "weak" spots in the edge so I switched

That was about 2008 IIRC

To this day I finish honing, then strop on linen, pull out the loupe and look for any issues, then finish on leather.. I figure if the edge isn't solid enough to hold up to the linen it should not be going on my Hollywood face anyway

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Same here Jimmy

I went with Leather only after honing for quite some time, then it occurred to me that the linen would find any "weak" spots in the edge so I switched

That was about 2008 IIRC

To this day I finish honing, then strop on linen, pull out the loupe and look for any issues, then finish on leather.. I figure if the edge isn't solid enough to hold up to the linen it should not be going on my Hollywood face anyway

glen I agreed with you all the way up to the Hollywood face bit ! Tc

By Hollywood face he meant Marty Feldman.

Originally Posted by gcbryan

By Hollywood face he meant Marty Feldman.

It's not by chance that I have made a change to this post.

I have made more posts in jest that anyone else on SRP & I have been asked to pull a couple over the years.
I have learned the hard way.

Your post was directed at a Senior Moderator, with a photo that was inappropriate.

So lets roll back on topic , Please.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

It's not by chance that I have made a change to this post.

I have made more posts in jest that anyone else on SRP & I have been asked to pull a couple over the years.
I have learned the hard way.

Your post was directed at a Senior Moderator, with a photo that was inappropriate.

So lets roll back on topic , Please.

No offense intended. Remove the whole post if you wish. If the original post was offensive (not my intent) then the remark about Marty Feldman must be offensive as well.

Originally Posted by gcbryan

No offense intended. Remove the whole post if you wish. If the original post was offensive (not my intent) then the remark about Marty Feldman must be offensive as well.

Action has been taken; we are back on topic now.