Boker Barbers Corner | BUSA Edition 2020

BÖKER MANUFAKTUR SOLINGEN
37
CARE & STROPPING OF STRAIGHT RAZORS
Caring for a straight razor mainly
entails preserving the razor's edge
and protecting it from corrosion.
The sharpness of the razor mainly
comes from regular "stropping" on
linen and untreated leather and,
after a while, on leather treated
with a grinding paste. This requires
a bit of practice but can be learned
quickly. While with a pocket or
kitchen knife, the difficulty lies in
maintaining the correct angle, the
geometry of the straight razor helps
us a lot in this respect. The precisely
balanced ratio of the very thick back
of the blade to the whisper-thin
edge ensures that you automatically
get the right angle on the edge
when the back touches the leather
strop (see fig. 1).
SPINE
LEATHER
Fig. 1
BLADE
First, touch the back to the leather
and then carefully move the edge
to touch the strop. Now pull the
straight razor with slight pressure in
the direction of the back (away from
the edge) across the entire length
of the strop. While doing so, move
the razor slightly diagonally across
the leather. This way you can cover
the entire length of the edge with
the leather. The back and the edge
must be in constant contact with
the strop (see fig. 2).
Fig. 2
It is very important to flip the razor
over its back when you reach the
end of the strop. UNDER NO
CIRCUMSTANCE should you flip
the straight razor over the edge –
this would round off the edge again,
i.e. blunt it (see fig. 3).
Fig. 3
The untreated leather does not
remove material from the edge, i.e.,
it does not sharpen the razor in the
usual sense. You can image the
burr of the edge microscopically like
a comb whose teeth are bent in all
directions after shaving. The strop
realigns these teeth into an even
burr. If available, one should use
the linen side in exactly the same
manner as the leather strop before
stropping.
The fiber of the linen is soft, the
mesh of the textile, however, is
rough. This allows the linen to grip
the burr and align it. The weave of
the textile catches dirt and loose
steel particles which could damage
the sensitive edge when pressed
against the strop. The final use of the
strop makes the resulting edge finer.
You should strop the razor BEFORE,
and not AFTER shaving. Steel has
a certain level of self-healing power,
or “memory.” After stress, the burr
slowly and partially stands itself up
again. If you violently rip the burr
up with the strop immediately after
shaving, this stresses the material,
which shortens the life expectancy
of the burr and, in the long run, of
the razor. The razor should rest for
at least 24 hours after the shave
– but 48 hours or more is ideal,
so if you shave every day, you
should own at least two straight
razors. Our grandfathers therefore
often had sets for the entire week,
containing 7 razors.
If the cutting performance of the
razor decreases over time despite
regular stropping, the razor should
be stropped on a second strop
treated with special red grinding
paste. This process actually does
remove a minute amount of steel
from the blade. It is not that easy
to answer the obvious question of
after how many shaves this should
be done, as every beard is different.
Many men only shave partially and
contour their beards – the stress on
the blade is different in each case.
The user should strop with paste
when the razor begins to pinch
when shaving.
After stropping with paste, you
should clean the blade thoroughly,
and strop it once more on untreated
leather. In order to protect it from
corrosion, dry the blade carefully
and thoroughly after shaving, and
then oil it with an acid-free, viscous
oil. Camellia oil has proven to be
excellent for this purpose (see page
36).