One thing keeping me on edge...how hard is it to strop properly?

So I've pretty much made up my mind that I enjoy straight razor shaving. I purchased a Shavette a few weeks ago and have been using it with great results. Anyway, I would really like to jump in on the real deal and have picked out a razor and all but there is one thing eating at the back of my mind. I am terribly worried about not being able to strop properly thus ruining my blade and/or irritating the heck out of my face. I have extremely sensitive skin and a coarse beard. I can only use a Feather blade twice before I have to replace it. Back when I used Gillette Fusion Power blades, I could only use it once and my fiancee would use the blade on her legs for the next week. Then the cycle would repeat. I was only shaving once a week back then because of so much irritation. Basically what I am saying is that my skin requires a perfectly sharp blade. So my question is this: Is it easy to ruin an edge with improper stropping technique? I don't want to get frustrated or injured and give up. Any tricks, advice, etc...? Thanks!

not sure how easy it is but its enough ppl that have rolled the edge stropping
im thinking shavette with tinfoil about 1mm outside the edge of an old blade
if you dont bend that to much your edge should be safe

if you take it slow and make sure the spine is flat on the strop at all times you should have no problem. Speed comes later. Lay the strop on a table or countertop for added stability if you need to.

Should I go with a paddle strop? Maybe it will illeminate the variable of sagging but IDK...

BGAndrea,

Relax...Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was mastering the art of str8 razor shaving. You'll do just fine. As CarrieM suggests, take it slow at first to develop your muscle memory.

To compensate for the slowness of your stropping at first, consider increasing the number of times you strop your razor back and forth.

A paddle strop isn't necessary at all. Practice a few times with a butterknife on your strop first making sure you keep it flat and flipping it over on the back edge. If you roll the edge of the razor it's not the end of the world, Most of us have done it a time or two :)

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Originally Posted by CarrieM

A paddle strop isn't necessary at all. Practice a few times with a butterknife on your strop first making sure you keep it flat and flipping it over on the back edge. If you roll the edge of the razor it's not the end of the world, Most of us have done it a time or two :)

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I've done it on my face! OUCH! I would just say don't spend too much money on the first one because you will nick it. I know I did.

Stropping too quickly is where most people run into problems. Yes, it looks and sounds cool when you zip up and down the leather, but the only thing you're doing is increasing the likelihood of damaging the edge. The way I look at it is, you spend so much time carefully honing your razor on a series of increasingly fine stones, and you pay attention to the look, the feel, and even the sound of every pass until you're content...and then you head to the strop and do it in a cavalier way? No-no-no. I treat my edge almost as delicately on the strop as I do on the hone and I get amazing results, so I've concluded that stropping speed has nothing to do with how sharp you'll get you're edge. It's about making each pass as perfect as possible.

Learn the principles of stropping and replicate them at a slow, sensible pace and you'll have that perfect edge you've been dreaming of every time you shave.

Hello! Fellow newb, who has lived your nightmare. Thought I'd share my thoughts on the aftermath.

Stropping is not hard. In fact, it's way easier than you think it should be. And this is how you wind up stropping all wrong.

If you have a look at my first shave post (in the Ladie's Section), you will see this is exactly what I did.

I rolled the ever loving bejesus out of my blade the first time I stropped it. It is currently in the post, on it's way to Onimaru who can hopefully get the edge back.

I continued to practice stropping over the weekend after wrecking it, and the more I did it the more I realized how wrong I was doing it to start, and how easy it actually is.

Your first instinct is to push down on the blade, or lean the edge more towards the leather than the spine. You feel as though you really need to make sure that edge is straight as hell. Or, as others have said, try to do it way too fast.

And in the process you destroy it completely.

In reality, it's really very simple. Pull the strop tight, and pretty much just let the blade rest on it as you run it up and down. Virtually no pressure. No tricky manoeuvring. Just a straight piece of leather, and a touch so gentle it almost seems a bit lazy. You only need to go as fast as you feel comfortable - just do more strokes if you feel you're going really slow.

Onimaru, while counseling me after my epic fail at stropping, said that one should merely "suggest" the blade to the strop, and that's all.

Practice with a butterknife before you try it on your razor. If you hear a scratchy sound, lighten up.

Well, that's my.02.

And hopefully you can avoid making my mistake!

BG, one other point, if you don't mind my piling on? Get yourself a PRACTICE strop to start off with. Trust me on this. When you start out, it is really, really easy to dig the blade into the leather as you are stropping, and every time you do so, you create another rough spot on your strop. Yes, some of them can be fixed, but when you are learning, you will so have a strop with nothing but cuts on it. If it is a $10 practice strop that you are learning on, then no big deal. If it is a $90 horsehide strop, then you are kicking yourself everytime you look at it. Use a practice strop for 3 months!! Then you'll see that this is not a difficult skill at all, but one that must be mastered nonetheless.

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Originally Posted by JeffE

Get yourself a PRACTICE strop to start off with. Trust me on this.

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+1

As everyone else has said, stropping is actually quite easy.

Just take your time (as mentioned speed plays no part in what stropping does to refresh a blade). And use no pressure other than the weight of the blade.

Two things do take a little getting used to though:

1. Developing the habit of rolling the blade over on the spine when starting a new pass, and
2. Not making any tiny backward (e.g. edge-first) movements

It only takes a little backward motion for the edge to slice or gouge the strop. Once you develop the proper habit/muscle-memory this won't be an issue... but, in the first couple weeks odds are it WILL happen (you'll be surprised at how easy it is, and likely you are, to make a tiny backward jerk at the end of your rolling motion during the first few tries)...

...so, IMHO, a practice strop is a VERY worthwhile investment. And if it's still in good shape after you move onto a higher-end strop, you can hang onto it and use it as a travel strop.

Like a lot of things stropping is easy once you know how. I remember when I first tried electric arc welding with stick. Getting that rod to burn and not stick was a major PITA. By the time I got out of apprentice school welding was as easy as falling off a log.

Stropping would've been easier for me if I had learned correctly to start. Unfortunately I didn't so I had to unlearn some bad habits I had developed. Here is the 1961 barber manual excerpt with the real tip on how to strop..... IMO... :)

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Originally Posted by BGAndrea

Should I go with a paddle strop? Maybe it will illeminate the variable of sagging but IDK...

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Actually sagging is not the problem people think it is. Downward pressure &/or lifting the spine is a bigger problem.

You do not even need to pull the strop super tight. The more tension on your anchor hand the more tension in your whole body including the razor hand.

I pull the strop only tight enough to make it flat. The spring scale says 500 grams. If the strop sags I'm pushing down too hard.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CarrieM

A paddle strop isn't necessary at all. Practice a few times with a butterknife on your strop first making sure you keep it flat and flipping it over on the back edge. If you roll the edge of the razor it's not the end of the world, Most of us have done it a time or two :)

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Ditto! I bought a really cheap razor, not shave worthy, to practice stropping with and it really helped. A butter knife should work well, too.