Thread: Bad stropping barber

Hey SRP,

I just had a razor professionally honed and shaved a few times with it since I didn't have a strop. Since I have one on order I thought it would be a good idea to take it to local barber for a stropping. This lady appeared to have bad stropping technique and now my razor is much duller than it was. My question is where do I proceed from here? Will a good stropping return it to shave ready, or will it need to be re-honed?

A good stropping will counter the poor one, unless she has somehow damaged the edge, which is unlikely. If you usually use 30 laps to strop, double that when you can and that should bring it into line.

If she rounded the edge more stropping will probably do nothing to help. Next time unless your barber is at least 75 years old stay as far away from a barber as possible unless you know the person has been trained to do straight shaves and is competent at it.

Welcome to SRP. A strop is a basic essential if you're going to be using a straight razor. I would definitely look into getting one and check out the SRP Wiki beginner's guide here for more info on all things related to straight razor shaving.

If I were you I would look for a barber, as TBS said, preferably an old timer and one who has his strop hanging at his station. Usually from the barber chair. Ask him to show you how he strops his razor. When you see him strop and decide he is expert tell him about your razor and ask him to strop it. Then order a strop of your own and learn how to use it.

We need this in the FAQs. Seriously, I've read enough of this, about the disgraceful state of the barberian industry, to know this should be common knowledge on the frontlines against ignorance and injustice!

Damned barberians... up to no good I tell ya!

So if the edge has been rounded how will I be able to tell and where do I go from there? I have an ordered an Illinois #835 hanging strop from the classifieds and it has a cloth side on it which, so far as I understand, will remove a small amount of metal from the blade. If the edge has been rounded will stropping on the cloth first be enough to straighten it or does it need to go to a hone and how do I tell? Just as a caution to others don't trust anyone with your razor until you have some proof of there skill. This barber was aged and appeared skilled because of her strops and razors laying around but after watching that "stropping job" I wouldn't let her shave my dog.

I'd be curious what she did specifically, if you don't mind sharing. So, I'm sure their is a scientific process to figure this out, but I think the answer is pretty simple. Strop it and see if you get some improvement.

Either way I would try and shave with it, both before and after your stropping. Just be careful and go slow. I mean, really, you gotta figure out what this is all about anyway, right.

Most bad stropping isn't really all that bad. It might just smooth the razor out a bit. I guess, part of what I'm saying is that, and I mean no insult, but you may not have a lot of experience to evaluate the stropping or sharpnesss.

Just a thought.

I have to second the idea that the only way to determine the condition of the edge is to shave with it. If it does not shave you well then send it to a SRP member for corrective honing.

Specifically she used enough pressure to cause a bend in the strop, raised the spine off the strop, and turned it up at the end of each stroke enough to cause an audible "zing" noise. She also used some type of curved pattern instead of a strictly diagonal one.

Interesting. I suppose then that this was a learned behavior. I would try shaving with it.

Out of all of those issues, only raising the spine off the strop is truely suspicious to me.

All the rest of it may not have done any damage at all.