Thread: stropping question

I'm still fairly new (~2 months) to regularly shaving with a straight razor. I haven't really had any problems so far, and it has been a blast learning all about the process as well as honing the razors. I do have a question about stropping though which I thought I'd throw out there.

If I strop the blade and then wait several hours before shaving, will I lose some of the benefit of the stropping?

Someone posted something about giving the razor a day or two to rest between shaves, so I read up on that debate. It did leave me a bit curious about stropping though. I usually don't strop the blade after shaving, I just clean/dry/oil it. I usually do about 6 round trips on the fabric part of my strop and then about 50 round trips on the smooth leather side immediately before shaving. I'm curious though about what would happen if I stropped the blade and then got distracted for a long while before actually doing the shave. Let's say hypothetically I was planning to shave at night and I did my stropping routine. But then I got a phone call or something like that to distract me. I end up going to bed without shaving despite the fact that I stropped the blade and was prepped for a shave. I wake up in the morning to shave, but what should I expect? Is the blade just ready to go from the stropping I gave it the night before? Or have I lost all the benefit of stropping because of the time that has elapsed? Or maybe I just need a few passes to get it back to where it was. Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing? I almost missed shaving one morning due to distraction, and it made me wonder what the shave would have been like if I had to do it that night instead. Perhaps some of the people that strop their blade after they shave can weigh in. Thanks!

Hej,

"Leaving the razor to rest" is a theory.

Some people argue that Thiers issard support the idea.. with their Week-days set of straight razors.
But the most likely reason for having a "Lundi or Monday" Razor or a "Vendredi or Friday" razor is so as you know which one to strop or hone for the next day of the week.

I strop hone when necesary, I don't think it changes anything.

In my experience, there is nothing to the theory about letting the blade rest.

As for stropping, If I have to leave really early in the morning for work, I strop the night before, so as not to wake my wife. I notice no difference than stropping right before a shave, which is what I usually do.

Also, I went to a week long camp last summer. I did not want to pack a strop, so I stropped 5 razors before I left, and used one each morning. The edges were as if I had stropped just before the shave.

Finally, if you purchase a shave ready razor for a reputable seller, they will advise you not strop the first time you use the blade because the razor was stropped by the person who honed it.

I’m also a beginner (4 shaves and counting) but I heard this from another site, I did a search of the threads here at SRP. The bottom line is that people said they strop just before a shave, the night before a shave, after the shave and even during the shave, and no one reported any adverse effects.

So in a real-world scenario it doesn’t sound like anything to worry about.

Thanks to all for their insights! I think it makes sense to me that the razor would be ready after being stropped even if it sits for a while before use.

+1 to the it doesn't matter posts. If I shave in the morning I usually strop the night before to save time in the morning before going to work. Cannot tell the difference between the night before or fresh off the strop. Other than I am a little more relaxed because I didn't spend the extra 5-10 minutes deciding which razor, testing it, stropping it, etc.

Actually, I have experimented with it and have found that the edge on my razor does indeed become a little sharper after letting it rest for a day! Sharp enough in fact to give a good shave. However, I have never observed any degradation of an edge through stropping; I doubt that it's possible to strop too much.

This issue reminds me of the stated claim that top sushi chefs keep two knives so that each one can rest for a day between use. There is an old belief that razors should not be stropped until the steel has rested for a day and a few respected honers agree. Given that pro barbers stropped many times between customers each day without reporting any ill effect, the difference must be subtle, if it actually exists. It does no harm to test this thoery, but it remains a low item on my list of important things to learn for mastering the straight razor. The issue leaves me with wonder similar to reading the dialogue between top violinists and instrument makers regarding the quality of the performance of string instruments made by old masters.

Interesting. I worked for a somewhat eccentric sushi chef from Korea. He kept dozens of knives that he used, but I think that was just his version of RAD. Maybe Sushi Knife Acquisition Disorder (SKAD). Anyway, he had all of his other sushi chefs keep 2 knives at the bar. I just assumed the other was a spare in case they damaged one or whatever. But maybe it was to allow one to rest. Maybe I'll eventually run some experiments...

It just does not make any sense. Resting a razor for the blade to relax, IMHO is a myth. Razors are tools, not toys. They are ment to be used, not stored. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.