How I strop a razor blade

[Borderboss]

I'm playing with some new video equipment, so I thought I would make a video on how I strop a new razor blade. I have found that I get a much more comfortable first shave from a new blade if I strop it to remove any minute burrs from the manufacturing process. I hope you like the video. I'll apologize in advance for the amateurish quality and all the "umms".

Video here.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I don't strop before first use, but do sometimes strop to clean off stubborn soap scum as the life of the blade goes along. I find canvas or denim works quite well for that, and I reverse direction at each strop. It's a slower and more purposeful action than stropping a straight, but essentially the same principle.

I don't know if the edge is improved at all by me doing that, or if clearing the scum so the edge can get back down to the skin is the only real change. Either way, it gives me a few more shaves from a blade.

 

[Jnatcat]

Try corking ......les risk of getting cut

 

[Gafer]

Try corking ......les risk of getting cut

i was wondering just this morning what had happened with the practice of “corking” it was a near obsession around here about 10 years ago. I gave up on it after trying for awhile. No real noticeable difference.

 

[Old Hippie]

i was wondering just this morning what had happened with the practice of “corking” it was a near obsession around here about 10 years ago. I gave up on it after trying for awhile. No real noticeable difference.

A lot of the Gem-ish shavers either cork or strop the blade before using. I got a little deep in the weeds trying to figure out what good it is. What I know is that Personna (AccuTek) PTFE coated Gem blades are very hard stainless and corking or stropping doesn't affect the edge one bit. What I suspect is happening is that corkers and stroppers are removing the thin layer of Teflon coating the blade. I'm thinking it's not too solidly attached, so it may be what's behind the blades feeling a bit tuggy to some folks.

Guessing that's pretty much the same for DE blades.

I neither cork nor strop, but I'm not against the practice for those who do.

O.H.

 

[Borderboss]

Try corking ......les risk of getting cut

I disagree. I tried corking the way Mantic51 recommends and I almost sliced my fingers to ribbons. Blades don't exactly just slide through a cork.

 

[Jnatcat]

I disagree. I tried corking the way Mantic51 recommends and I almost sliced my fingers to ribbons. Blades don't exactly just slide through a cork.

When corking your not trying to slice down deep into the cork just pull the edge of blade lightly thru a few times to remove any burrs off the edge but for me since going to straights several years ago I don’t use a DE or SE razor often

 

[razorhead63]

I’ve stropped blades on my palm of the hand before and it does smooth them out. Increases the longevity of them too. I believe it helps improve them especially if one strops between every shave.

 

[VerbaVolant]

I have never seen a burr shown on the edge of a blade under a microscope. I will believe blades have burrs when I see one. Until then, nothing more than old wives' tale.

 

[ShaverAZ]

Stropping was just a bunch of BS - or so I thought, until I stropped a 60's Gillette Thin with 3 shaves on it. Stropping restored the edge to just as smooth as new & I was able to get 2 more sahaves before stropping it again. I was able to get around 10 shaves out of the blade until stropping had no further effect. Stroppping a stainless blade was a waste of time. Apparently they're hard enough that stropping won't realign a used edge.

 

[Atlantic59]

I don't think any burrs are being removed, if there were burrs on a new blade it would be defective. Stropping may be removing some mineral deposits on the edge, so prolonging the life of the blade.

 

[Mouser]

When I went strictly vintage blades, I started stropping my blades on an old pair of Levi's before the first use. I thought, think, if stropping does help at all what would it cost to do it just in case? I do each side of each edge about ten times in one direction and turn it 90 degrees, not 180, for another ten. I don't know if it really contributes to the end results but the end results are always a BBS and the end results are practically always no weepers, not even a molecule of hemoglobin.

 

[Borderboss]

Disagree if you want. All I can tell you is that the first shave with a new blade is significantly improved after I started stropping the new blade.