Thread: Newbie strop advice

I know it's probably posted somewhere but as a newb I'm getting information overload so I'll ask anyway. For normal everyday stropping do you just use the linen and leather sides bare? Are the pastes just for reconditioning?

Yes daily stropping is done on untreated strops. I use my leather hanger 50 laps pre shave daily. I use the linen side 5 laps after wiping the blade to make sure its dry. Then I do 5 on leather and put the blade away.

Originally Posted by bill3152

Yes daily stropping is done on untreated strops. I use my leather hanger 50 laps pre shave daily. I use the linen side 5 laps after wiping the blade to make sure its dry. Then I do 5 on leather and put the blade away.

Yes...what this gentleman said. I even go a 100, but that's because I enjoy stropping then 20 strokes before I put it away.

Cool, thanks! Would I eventually have to use a paste in between honings, how long? Would you use a different strop for the pastes?

I would use a separate strop for paste. As for how long you have to decide how the razor feels, if it needs it or not. I like to use a 2x4 with an old leg of my denim jeans stretch over it and I put a little flitz in the middle and use that as my maintenance routine. Then ill go to the bathroom and give it 20 lashes on my leather strop.

25 linen 50 leather is the advice most often given for starting your Pre-shave stropping adjust up or down as you figure it out..
Some do not use linen at all, again a choice try it and see

After shaving stropping is also a choice, if you fear rusting then I would advise a few passes.

Pasted stroping is a seperate issue, most recommend CrOx as a first paste as it is the best known and used but there are many to choose from.. The media to which any paste is applied also changes the effectiveness of the paste, sometime really effective is not so good..

Yes you would need a separate strop for the paste. Once you put paste on a strop it is there for good. You only need a pasted strop when your razor starts pulling. Just stay with a normal strop for a while until your technique improves. You can dull an edge with a regular strop but it is even easier to dull an edge using a pasted strop if your technique is bad. I have a hanging strop for daily use and then I bought a paddle strop from SRD to use for pastes. The cool thing about the SRD paddle strop is that it is magnetic so you can change out the pads for different uses. I use the felt with diamond spray and it works awesome. Remember less is more so use the paste or diamond spray sparingly.

As stated by other experts, clean leather and linen for daily use. I do 15-20 on linen then 30-40 on leather depending on the blade.
I don't post shave strop, I just wipe her on a dry towel.

Thanks for all the great advice guys! That's just what I needed to know.