After reading this thread I decided to do a little experiment. To see if this really works I am going to use the same razor/blade combo and seeing how many shaves I can get out of it. The combo I will be using is: Derby blade 1954 Gillette super speed. This will normally give me 2 BBS shaves before too much irritation sets in. To ensure I strop the same amount each day I am going to do 4 sets of 4 (or 16 on each side) stropping actions on each of the shaving edges both before and after the shave. Because I am limited to what I ha e to use I also encourage other people to join in, just post your razor/blade combo below then once you have your results quote your own post so we can see what your combo was with your result. To ensure your results are on the scale as mine please be sure to do the same amount of stropping actions as me.
I regularly hand strop when I use my SE. Without hand stropping, the blade (a stainless GEM SE blade) degrades quickly and I can only get about two to three shaves out of it. With stropping I get at least three shaves. My setup is: GEM damaskene SE razor. GEM stainless SE blade. I strop four times on each side, for a total of eight strokes.
Hey! I'm that guy from the thread you mentioned. Frankly, I don't know if it's the stropping that is extending the blade's life or if it's just a darn good blade. Either way, I'm happy to know now that my stash of SI blades will last me about 15 years.
There are three schools of thought... A) Yes, it works. I hand strop. 2) No, it doesn't work. I don't hand strop. III) It may and it may not work. To me it's too much time and effort given how cheap blades are, therefore I don't hand strop. I'm in class room A.
I am a class A.III. I strop my Gem and autostrop blades. I do not strop my DE blades. When stropping, I palm strop five on each side after rinsing the blade.
There's those that say palm strop right after a shave while the blade is "tender" and those that say palm strop right before a shave to give the blade time to firm up... I've tried it both ways and it's worked both ways. I definitely get a couple of extra shaves out of blade when I palm strop.
I am pretty sure that this works... and here's why. I had just started DE blade shaving and had decided that I would use my first blade until it no longer provided an adequate shave, or until it got too uncomfortable or dangerous to do so (I shave in the morning before going to work, don't want to go into work bleeding). I already had 5 good shaves on the blade when I happened to read that thread referenced above. My fifth shave was barely adquate, and a bit uncomfortable. I hand stropped the blade with just a dot of shave oil on my hand right before the next shave. It was a big improvement! I got 2 more good shaves and 1 adequate shave out of that blade (walmart wilkinson) before tossing it. Just from that one stropping. I generally just leave the blade in the razor after a good rinse. Still don't regularly strop the blade either before or after the shave. Just did it that one time. Too lazy, I guess.
Mark me down in category III. The only razors I have been using are my DEs. It may work, but I really do not like removing the blade from the razor between shaves. I put a blade in the razor and use that razor/blade combo until the blade is done. When it comes time for the next blade, then I decide which shaver to use for the next few days.
Just to add to this conversation, I am a IIIA. I have extended the life of blades by hand stropping mostly out of necessity when traveling when I only have one blade and must get more shaves out of it. Stropping does not produce outstanding shaves for me, but it does get me more adequate shaves from a blade. Hence, the "A" designation. However, I am also too lazy to do this when not forced to. I prefer to just pop the blade out after 3 or 4 shaves, switch gear and blade, and KNOW an outstanding shave awaits me. This KNOWING if far more important to me than blade life extension with merely more adequate shaves. I am a IIIA baby.
The only reason why I am doing this is Because I like to do these little experiments, keeps my life interesting, I dont care if it helps or not, but out of it we might get some information that is useful to ourselves or someone else that as mentioned above might be traveling and along with that might end up staying away for longer meaning they need to make those blades last just a little longer
Think what you do when you run in debt; you give to another power over your liberty.~Benjamin Franklin “Do we not realize that self respect comes with self reliance?”~ Abdual Kalam You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your f*** khakis. ~Tyler Durden, Fight Club Couple'o frugality related quotes
On the advise of a former member here, I began hand stropping over a year ago. I stropped a total of 8 times per side or 4 on each edge--16 total. I used my forearm (with only one skin-slice in a year which I didn't think was so bad! ). Honestly I never really stopped to consider if it was working until recently I ceased stropping. I now just shave the blade as is. The only thing I do is to take a towel and pull the soap scum off the edges. Results: No discernible difference that I can tell. I always get 3 shaves out of a blade regardless of what I do. So I'm discontinuing stropping to save time.
Does hand stropping really work? For those who might be interested in reading a short article on the subject I lifted this link from another forum. http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/05/15/delusions-about-shaving/ I still believe that it will extend the life of your blade somewhat. I notice I get smoother more comfortable shaves anyway. This could be my imagination but I still do it anyway. It helps keep the blade edges dry. Water will corrode and edge and the stropping will help to prevent it. In my humble opinion.
I read the article. The interesting thing about it was that he recommended the use of a strop handle and a strop that simulated the way a straight razor was stropped. It seemed like he was mostly debunking some of the other popular stropping devices and methods of the time.
Keep in mind that blades from the 1900s/10s/20s/30s/40s/50s were much thicker than modern blades and they didn't know what PTFE/teflon or platinum coating was back then either. Blades today are a different beast. Heavier, thicker blades of yesterday could stand up to honing and sharpening on a strop. Some of those older blades had just enough give where they'd take the slight bend when tightening down the head cap of the razor whereas blades today you can bend in half with very little to no effort. If you're just stropping to dry the blade, it'd be quicker to blow it off (hair dryer or your mouth) and then dip it in 91% rubbing alcohol which will remove any further water as the alcohol evaporates.
This is how I took the article also. I never got around to the stropping on a drinking glass trick however so I can't speak intellegently about that. I know the straight razor guys play around with glass with good results. No reason to think that it would not work with DE and straight edge blades. I wonder if anyone here has tried glass stropping and could chime in?
The blades from the 1900s - 1950s were also carbon steel, in contrast to the mostly stainless steel blades sold today. Has anyone seen differing results stropping a carbon steel blade vs. a stainless steel blade? I tried the drinking glass stropping with ASR store brand blades and Derbys, both of which are stainless steel. In both cases, stropping had zero effect. Are water removal/alcohol dip are supposed to improve stropping or reduce corrosion?
Not so much on modern blades but you've got older guys who got in the habit of drying the blade back when they had un-coated blades. Modern blades coated in teflon, platinum or something else don't have rusting issues so they can be put up wet to let dry on their own. The older guys just haven't broken that habit I'd venture to guess. I myself still prefer to dip my razor head and blade in 91% alcohol as a sanitizer more so than a water evaporator but it's not a requirement.
