Stropping the night before?

[stone and strop]

Well, I have just finished shaving with the razor I mentioned above that hasn't been stropped since early Nov.
I mentioned above that it was two months ago but clearly it has been nearly three months - and I thought I was pretty good at math

I did not strop prior to shaving tonight and the shave was absolutely sublime. I'm trying to remember what it was honed on last but can't honestly remember, not that it matters.
I cannot imagine stropping 12 hours before a shave could have any significant effect whatsoever - even in a semi humid environment.
If I had a razor made of W2 and a hamon or something like that then maybe. W2 rusts quicker than many other steels it seems.
Everyone will have to decide for themselves but for me, it matters not.

 

[SammieM]

I have a rotation of about 15 razors and I strop before the shave. If I strop after the shave the blade doesn’t pass the hht test when I try it the next time it comes in rotation even though I use ballistol. If it is the same razor, I don’t think it would matter much..

 

[RumpleBearskin]

For any that are interested ...

It's been a little over a week of my little unscientific experiment of only using razors that were last stopped the night before the shave. To date, and across a a varied group of 6 razors of different manufacturers and grinds, I have seen zero performance decrease from not stropping immediately before the shave. There has been no preformance increase either. The net effect, for me thus far, is zero. YMMV.

On to phase two ...

Today was balsa day where all the straights used last week get 60 laps on 0.1u diamond pasted balsa. I then went ahead and gave them each 50 laps on clean leather. The plan is to not strop any of them before the shave and see if I notice anything with any of them through the week. Mondays are Micromatic Mondays for me, so the first straight I use (Torrey Gibraltar for Torrey Tuesday) will have had about 36 hours since it's stropping, with all remaining razors resting longer than that.

 

[Bob1955]

For me, after shaving I do 50 laps on clean leather, next shave 30 on dia spray felt and 30 on crox felt, then another 50 on clean leather, that is just my current regime and gives me superb edges, I could probably get away with less, but it works so why change it...I enjoy it

 

[Tom Gabison]

I always strop the night before. Definitely not a distance in shave quality. Ofcourse ymmv.

 

[RumpleBearskin]

Ok. Final results for me.

• Two (plus) weeks trial.
• 10 razors in a 6-day rotation.
• Stropped after the weekly balsa treatment and then again immediately after the shave.
• That means anywhere from 1 to 12 days between stropping and use.

The results, no noticable impact on the sharpness of the razors or the quality of the shave. At least for me. As always, YMMV.

I assume that long periods between stropping and use would have an impact. But, at least for me, that period is longer than 12 days.

 

[Njguy1977]

It sounds like to me that the whole strop before you shave mantra is so that you dont forget to do it as it is necessary. I don't strop the night before, but what I do is strop and prepare my blade before I get in the shower. Its nice to get out of the shower and lather up to start shaving right away rather then take the few minutes to strop.

Larry

 

[ajduplessis]

More Test Data
Shaved with a Dovo 5/8 BQ this morning. The razor was honed and stropped late last year but never move into rotation.

I used the razor as is, no stropping and it performed flawlessly in a 3 pass shave with Tabac. Its been nearly an quarter since this razor received any attention.

Additionally I always strop after a shave and have 15 razors in current rotation (20 in storage), thus a single razor is used maybe once a month and I never experienced any drop in performance.

So I call bollocks on noticeable edge degradation from oxidation over the short to medium term. Caveat: I am landlocked in a warm climate.

 

[Zig the Pirate]

I'll sometimes strop the night before, but give it a light strop over a glossy magazine cover when it's time to shave.

 

[RumpleBearskin]

Still only stropping (cloth and leather) after use (to dry the blade well) and after the weekly pasted balsa maintenance. That's over a month (30+ shaves across 8 or so razors in regular use) and no loss in shave quality.

Saving 3 minutes in my daily routine and no longer worry about fumbling the edge with half open eyes.

 

[Gamma]

I have attempted, a number of times, to isolate an edge and get a scientific/objective read on whether or not a 24 hr in advance stropping jhas a negative, positive or neutral effect.

Longer periods of time for sure affect the edge in a negative way but the effect of shorter time-frames is hard to judge.

Even so, regularly, I found a perceptible, but barely so, negative difference in how an edge shaves when stropped the day before. The shaves were, essentially, fine. I am, literally, talking about a splitting hairs comparison.
I find this very difficult to do sort out is an 'as-scientific-as-possible' manner because so many different things affect my whiskers, skin, hydration, etc. Repeatability with the mechanics of prep and lather are more possible variables.

My usually routine is to strop a bit after a shave and to 'really strop' before the shave. Stropping takes less than a minute so I don't have a need to strop fully in advance; it was just a question in my head. If I have a razor sitting for a while, I always refresh the edge because it's always a disappointment otherwise.

 

[Tedolph]

This thread has been very informative. Thank you all for your contributions.

 

[Tanuki]

I strop on cotton or flax, no more than 10 laps after a shave. Just for cleaning/drying the edge.

I never know which SR I will choose (or whether a straight shave will fit my schedule) the night before. So I strop before every straight shave. Sometimes I include balsa (maybe all 3 balsa if the edge is suspect), always leather. But which strop?

The bigger picture: If I don’t have time to strop, at least I have time to choose other gear. DE, SE, injector, shavette? New blade? Soap, croap, cream, stick? Bowl or face lather? Barbasol brushless/latherless “cream” from a tube?

Maybe I don’t have time for this obsession at all. I also notice, when shaving life gets as chaotic as mine, it is very hard to tell what helps and what hinders. At least I enjoy hunting down, restoring, and playing with my toys.

I do appreciate the perspective that threads like this give, but my mileage continues to veer all over the highway.