Strop before or after or both

I am sure this has been beat to death but just looking for some info, am just getting into STR8's and am curious on stropping before, after or both and can any harm come from doing both.

Also am looking at getting a second strop and I am thinking a two piece hanging like cloth/leather budget around $60-$90 and looking for suggestion, have looked at Straightrazor design and also Star and both look nice.

I strop before and after. Post shave only gets 10 or so laps on linen.

As for another strop, I recommend a Tony Milller strop.

I strop before shaving and then with lather on my face between passes. I think that some people strop a bit after shaving in order to make sure the blade is dry.

I strop before usually with a fresh lathered face and afterward just to keep the blade clean, dry and to prepare it for its rest.

A Tony Miller will serve you well. Jarod over at the https://www.thesuperiorshave.com/index.html has some nice strops made by Herold that won't break the bank, are pretty nice strops and you probably won't cry should you nick it up learning. But, if you hack up your Tony Miller, Neil Miller or Scrupleworks, you'll feel a real sense of loss no matter the price.

What ever you do, learn the clean strop and learn it well for success and enjoyment.

Regards

Chasmo

Both, about 25-50 before a shave and 10 after

Both. Post shave it is linen and leather. Pre-shave it is leather only. I haven't always done it this way, but it is what I am gravitating to more and more.

Have been looking and have kind of settled on a 2 piece Linen or webbing material and Leather with handles, so may be a Tony Miller on Lynn Abrams

global_dev said:

Both, about 25-50 before a shave and 10 after

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This is about what I do.

My strop is in the computer room (i.e. the only room where I can be messy keep shaving and chess stuff), so I strop post-shave as walking across the house at 5:30am just to strop seems funny, especially if we have visitors staying over.

20/40 before shave, and 10/20 after.

As far as strops, I have owned a premium III and bridal strop from SRD, and have liked them both. But I tell you, for me, the bridal is hands down better then the Premium III. I love that strop! I have their webbing on both.

I also own a Tony Miller Old # 2 Hierloom Steer Hide, which in fit, finish and feel is fantastic, but a little on the high end of your price range. He sells some cheaper stops, you may want to look into as well.

About 30 on clean leather before, 20 on clean linen and 30 on leather after.

Brianskeet said:

Both. Post shave it is linen and leather. Pre-shave it is leather only. I haven't always done it this way, but it is what I am gravitating to more and more.

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I have always done it this way.

I usually strop pre shave 20-30 linen then 40-60 leather. After shave I strop 10-20 linen, 30-40 leather. No real hard rules. I just try to get around 80-100 strokes between stropping sessions- the shave falls somewhere between and I use the linen to get the razor ready for the leather. I think of it as "pre-heating"
just do whatever works for you. There is no real right or wrong method.

A few swipes on linen after to clean/dry it.
Some linen before, then leather - no lap count though. Maybe 30-60.

Brianskeet said:

Both. Post shave it is linen and leather. Pre-shave it is leather only. I haven't always done it this way, but it is what I am gravitating to more and more.

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+1

+1 for this.

global_dev said:

Both, about 25-50 before a shave and 10 after

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This is going to seem like overkill but I adopted this from a fellow B&B member and it works out really well. Before the shave I do 25/50 (linen/leather) and after the shave I do 50/25.

Before and after...

25 to 30 before use.

4-6 on lined after use. Then the razor is left to dry...

....and then another 25 - 30 before I put the razor away in the drawer.

Before 30-40 laps on leather. After 30 laps on linen and 60 on leather.