Does my strop suck?

So I bought my first strop from straight razor designs. I got the roo strop with 100% hard pressed wool felt. The roo leather is very thin. A lot thinner than what I though a strop was going to be. I noticed that when I pull it taught, there is still a little dip in the 3" width. I've been practicing my strop prior to shaving and my razor doesn't seem to cut the hair with minimum to no pressure when I shave. I had it professionally honed by classicshaving so I'm thinking it's my stropping. I use little to no pressure, I strop the felt side 15 to 20 times and the leather 50-70 times. I don't go fast, but I don't go too slow. I turn on the spine and make sure the blade and spine are flat before moving the razor. It cuts thin hair pretty well but it snags on my thick beard.

I'm mainly concerned that the strop is really thin. Not sure how much that matters. Thoughts?

Roo is very thin and super flexible. I doubt the strop is the problem.

More likely it's shaving or stropping technique that's the issue.

Michael

No. Your strop doesn't suck. If your time with us is an indicator of your time with a straight razor, then now's the time to look in the mirror. You will find the culprit of all your problems there. And that statement is practically universal across all hobbies, troubles, and people.

If you bought a shave ready razor from a reputable vendor (such as Straight Razor Designs), then it's likely a technique error. But from what information we have right now, the one thing we can safely eliminate is the strop as the issue. Pretty much everything else having to do with this problem for you is still an unknown, and therefore, a potential problem.

Lastly, welcome to the forum! :)

First off - is this your first strop ever, and you bought it from SRD; or do you have other strops and this is the first one from SRD you've purchased.

Either way, that strop definitely does not suck. I have two SRD strops and they make an excellant product. In fact I, and many others I am willing to bet, will attest that SRD strops are probably underpriced - you get more than you pay for.

If you have been reading posts here you no doubt have come across the acronym "YMMV" or "Your mileage may very" which ends up being the answer to about 85% of the questions asked here. That is not a bad thing, it is just the nature of the beast - for many products, there is no inherant superiority of one over the other, personal preferences are just different.

To answer your concern - no, in and of itself the strop is not too thin. That is the nature of 'roo leather - it is what it is. But it may be too thin for you.
In and of itself it does not matter at all, but it may matter to you

You basically have two choices - learn the suble differences in technique required for stroping with a strop that is thinner than the majority of the other strops out there; or sell it off or give it away and get one with a different leather that better fits your preferences so your experience is a pleasure, not a chore.

how is your lather? a solid moist creamy lather can make all the difference between gliding and resistance especially when going straight down and not using a scythe or a guillotine stroke.

I have tried out an SRD roo strop that belongs to a friend. Thin, very light draw, but effective AFAIC, and my friend is happy with his. A bit of neatsfoot, used very sparingly, will increase the draw. A little goes a very long way. One of the things about strops is that you have to get more than one variety to know which you like the best ...... thick, thin, more draw, less draw ........ OTOH, if you use one long enough you'll get used to it, whatever it is.

As for the razor, could be the razor, of the stage of learning you're into technique wise. Hard to say which it is, or a combination of the two.

Any quality strop does exactly the same job and the Roo Strop is quality so you can put that issue out of your mind.

Like the others have said it could be one of several experience related issues.

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Originally Posted by regularjoe

No. Your strop doesn't suck. If your time with us is an indicator of your time with a straight razor, then now's the time to look in the mirror. You will find the culprit of all your problems there. And that statement is practically universal across all hobbies, troubles, and people.

If you bought a shave ready razor from a reputable vendor (such as Straight Razor Designs), then it's likely a technique error. But from what information we have right now, the one thing we can safely eliminate is the strop as the issue. Pretty much everything else having to do with this problem for you is still an unknown, and therefore, a potential problem.

Lastly, welcome to the forum! :)

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Thanks for the welcome, rough start but it's been pretty enjoyable and fun. I'm brand new at this so I know I'm to blame for most of the issues I'm having. I was just curious, I've heard SRD had very good strops. I've seen a few but never this thin. I know I just need practice. As for the razor, I got it from classicshaving.com. They were recommended in the beginner forums so I assume that they are reputible.

That said, and I know this should go in the razor forum but opportunity prevails, I had it professionally honed. It catches on my bear but I did a test spot on my arm and it cut like butter though the finer hair. I'm guessing it's my technique when shaving on my face.

As for the rest of the responses. It is my first strop so I don't have anything to compare it to, minus your responses. I'm sure once I know what to look for then I'll be able to make better use of a quality strop.

My lather is pretty good, or atleast I think so. It's thick, creamy, and slick. The one problem I have is after a little while it dries out. Not sure if it's because I'm taking so long to shave or the type of cream. I use the Art of Shaving sandlewood cream and preshave oil. It's my first product away from the gillette type shaving creams so it's already a step up.

I appreciate all the input and looking forward to more improvement.

it helped me to adda few more drops of water because my lather would do that and also doing steaming hot towels on the face pre shave. if it dries out during a pass it needs more water.

another trick i stole from Lynn is to apply the lather and then wet the tip of the brush before massaging it into the beard so that the lather can be perfected.

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Originally Posted by Mjsonge

That said, and I know this should go in the razor forum but opportunity prevails, I had it professionally honed. It catches on my bear but I did a test spot on my arm and it cut like butter though the finer hair. I'm guessing it's my technique when shaving on my face.

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If it catches drop the spine lower. Depending on the area shaved you can even have spine contact with your face & still remove stubble.
Also lather loses it's effectiveness if allowed to dry out or is too thin. Best to lather small sections at a time if you'e shave is a bit slow yet.
A razor that cuts fine hair like butter is not at fault. Fine hair is notoriously difficult to cut. Look at all the HHT threads. :)

My first couple of weeks, maybe more, my lather would dry on one side before I finished the other. A shave might take me 45 minutes ...... I don't know how, but it did. I had to relather the off side to get it. Eventually I began to get through the entire shave with the original lather. Now I can probably shave 2 passes in no more than 10 minutes but it took awhile. Where you are sounds par for the course I took. BTW, my first two or three weeks I had to use the DE to get the tough spots, knob of the chin and parts of the neck. That is also par for the course with some of us.

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Originally Posted by SirStropalot

Another thought. I have the Roo strop and I use it almost exclusively. I have said before though that it wouldn't be a strop I'd recommend to a new stropper. Almost everyone ends up nicking their first strop, usually a number of times. You've noticed how thin it is. A nick on a Roo is a cut through almost certain. You might think about getting an SRD replacement leather (thicker) and changing it

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I think the thinness is deceptive. You'd actually have to give it a good slice to cut thru. Not impossible but roo hide is stronger than cowhide & more puncture resistant than goat hide.

Find a veteran shaving member within driving distance from you and make a visit ASAP, this will "cut" your learning curve down considerably. Sounds like you have quality equipment & I echo the gentlemen's thoughts posted before me, it's now time to get your skills and knowledge up to par.

I have a few small nicks on my strop, and I use the word nick sparringly because they are minute. I made them the first strop I did. I flipped the spine over and had a little forward motion which gave it a little kiss with the edge. I haven't had any slips since then. I actually added a little neatsfoot oil yesterday and let it dry over night. I rubbed it with my palm a little prior to stropping this morning and had my most enjoyable shave yet. I actually picked up on the drag today and it was one of those feelings where you just know something is going right.

So, agree, my strop does not suck, I do... but getting better.

I have noticed that a couple drops of pure glycerin while lathering will help keep the lather from drying out quite a bit longer. It also helps give that extra bit of glide you may like while learning. You have to look in the right places but both CVS and RiteAID near me carry a 3.5" tall bottle that will last you many many years. As a side note, it seems to help get the lather and hair to slide off the razor under running water as well! Less chance of needing a towel to wipe it off. If you have hard water, maybe try using distilled water a couple of times and see if that makes a difference for you!

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Originally Posted by Mjsonge

So, agree, my strop does not suck, I do... but getting better.

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We all sucked in the beginning, my friend!! :D You'll learn fast!!!

Have fun and enjoy!

Howard:)