Thread: Do you really need to cloth strop ?

On a shave ready razor do you need to strop with the cloth every time before you use the leather ?

I maintained my first razor for months with nothing but a leather strop with no problems.

This has been a debated question for as long as people stropped razors. It is even mentioned as a contested question in the 1961 barber manual excerpt on honing and stropping here in the SRP Wiki. I have tried it both ways and I find, for me, that I get measurably better results doing linen/leather than if I do leather alone. YMMV.

I see some guys strop up 100 strokes and others 20-25, does it really make a razor more shave ready with higher number of strokes ?

Originally Posted by RML

I see some guys strop up 100 strokes and others 20-25, does it really make a razor more shave ready with higher number of strokes ?

Debate about that too. I've gone back and forth with more and with less. For a long time I did 50 and 50 linen/leather. Than I began doing 30 and 30. I know guys who do less whose opinion I respect but here again it is a matter of experimentation for each individual. Stick with a number for awhile and if you think you need more or less try that for awhile. Just IMHO.

I have always liked the results from using both. I have done less on the cloth maybe 10-15 then thrity on the leather. YMMV but that has always done me well.

Thanks for timely response to my questions Jimmy, the hardest part I find is when flipping the razor on the return stroke.

Originally Posted by RML

Thanks for timely response to my questions Jimmy, the hardest part I find is when flipping the razor on the return stroke.

Yeap flipping without nicking the strop is the hardest part. Id say all of us have done it at one point or another. FWIW I probally dont strop enough. I usually do 10-15 strokes on leather and be done with it.

In that PDF I linked to in the post above (honing & stropping) they recommend practicing the flip on the strop without the back and forth stropping motion. When you get the flip down pat start the up and down. Maybe you are beyond that now but than again it might do some good to practice that. My first strops were nicked up on the edge closest to my pulling hand and my body. I rarely miscue now so it does get better.

For what it's worth, I like 30 or so on cloth and 60 on leather. I haven't found a huge improvement going higher, but I have noticed that my cheeks don't like it if I'm on the low end of stropping.

Plus, I really like the feedback on my Premium I, so I strop often.

I've learned that stropping has to be an "awake" activity, which is why I tend to strop at night before bed. When I was stropping in the morning, I'd get the occasional knick.

Have you checked out AFDavis11's stropping video? His camera perspectives really show what your fingers should be doing. It's an excellent video.

**The video is the first "sticky" in this forum.