Don't venture into str8rzr shaving without a perfect stropping surface.  Old razors can always be made functional, but nicked strops frequently cannot.  Small irregularities in stropping surfaces can negatively influence affect capacity to realign edges.

Stropping's fairly easy.  With surface taut from pulling down upon it with your 'off' hand, rub up the strop with your palm.   Keeping the spine constantly in contact with the strop, gingerly place razor flat to strop, moving razor away from edge along strop.  Edge/spine should be contacting strop during movement, and stroke speed should be consistent throughout (but it can be slow).  Uniformity achieves predictably-great results.  Edges like uniform speed & pressure during passes of stropping and honing alike.

When the razor reaches the top/bottom of the stropping area, flip it over while keeping the spine in contact with the strop, and begin moving towards the other end.  The one crucial point: as you flip the razor over, don't move the spine along the strop in the direction which would allow the razor's edge to cut into the strop once it reached the leather.  If you simply must have the spine in motion along the strop's edge during the flip, be sure it is in the opposite direction from the stroke you've just completed, which allows blade's edge to meet strop's edge while moving away from the edge.

If you mess up and move the spine during the flip that you dig razor's edge into the strop, you'll very likely cut the strop.  If not rendering it worthless, you'll still significantly shorten the length of usable leather; don't pass the blade over raised nicks, but you can sand it down so that the area's below everything nearby and it should be okay.

There's one other risk-absentmindedly flipping the razor over upon its edge while touching the strop will require re-honing.

We now sell more 3" strops than those narrower than 3", but to be fair they both work-with the <3" strops, however, you must incorporate some lateral movement of the edge during the vertical movement of the razor, to allow all parts of edge some mileage on the leather.

Here's description of the process for the 90% probability right-handed user using a ~2" width strop;

• Begin with heel of blade aligned with bottom right of strop, with razor's toe beyond strop's width to the bottom left
• Move razor laterally left-to-right along strop during stroke.  When reaching the top, the razor's toe (that's the front) should completely contact the strop and its heel should be beyond the strop's top right edge
• Flip the razor carefully, realign razor's heel with top right edge, and move razor left to right during the pass back to the bottom of the strop

Most strops have a "prep" side (linen, canvas, cotton, wool, or polypropylene are common) to heat up the blade's edge, remove anything superfluous, and prepare it for stropping.  Strop on this stuff just like you do the leather, and always right before using the leather.

Below are Dovo's most premium hanging strops, with a padded leather handle sewn directly together with the Russian leather or built upon a swivel ring.  The "Russian type" leather used in these models (as well as 188-40002, 189-45002, & 188-40002 below), which is a slice below the cow's skin, is flatter, smoother, and more durable than the base 'cowhide' layer found on their three least-expensive models.

These strops' rear hard linen surface is durable and fast, and is used in the normal stropping preparation.  Dovo impregnated the hard linen with a bit of their white paste to add a very light sharpening effect.  There's likely not enough to cause it, but be sure that no residue from this paste remain on the blade when taken to the leather.

Dovo's basic models below have normal-grade cowhide, while the "Russian" leather strops have the nicest soft-tanned hides you'll see.  Dovo's strops are delivered ready-to-use.  Beware of imitations, no matter how similar-looking.  These are amongst the world's best.  The models below are their "standard-style" units, which have a "D" shaped nickel handle at the bottom.  I personally prefer this square-shaped-D handle to the fancier sewn/padded handles on the above two flagships, as by pressing my index and middle finger in the 'bottom' of the D of the handle I get a better grip, and I don't mind the mildly uncomfortable feeling of doing it this way.

• 152-4001 Basic Cowhide (no linen back)
• 185-35001 Cowhide/Linen (white linen)
• 188-40001 Cowhide/Linen (hard felt)
• 188-40002 Russian Leather/Linen (hard felt)
• 189-45002 Russian Leather/Linen (hard felt)
• 180-80002 "XL" Russian Leather (no linen back)

The Dovo line's more popular, but believe one not given to hyperbole; with the exceptin of the cordovan models (a concession to absurd luxury nobody really needs), the Walkin' Horse strops below are a better value.  100% made in the USA, with USA hides & hardware.  There's lots of amateur strops available today on eBay and the like for less, but the hides they use here hard to get, which is key to why we run out of 'em so often.  They know how to cut a leather, but they still really look made by hand, which is kind of fitting around here.  We try (fail) to stock (in order of easiest-to-acquire hide to most difficult) black cowhide, tan English Bridle, horsebutt, and cordovan-tanned shell; it has unfortunately become rare that you'd see all four varietals at once on this page, but those snobby tanneries are the belles of the ball, and the shoe and belt heavy hitters can certainly provide them with the superior financial security befitting their beauty.

Produced 3" wide with a white cotton 'prep' surface or 2" wide with genuine linen for the preparation side, the "WH" horsehide strops come from the great, perpetually hard to source USA tanner who's the belle of the ball.  They have a very mildly 'distressed' look.

Though of course you use 'em right away, they'll become better over weeks, and take years to wear out.

They like either the yellow-banded tube of Dovo leather fat or some neatsfoot oil (a bit messier, but for which a lifetime supply can often be had at any USA hardware store for less than the cost of one little Dovo yellow tube).

100% Made in the USA from 100% USA components.

Not for not trying, but we've not had deep stock of these for months and months and I don't see that ever changing.

OUT OF STOCK...I'll predict about March 10th we'll see some more.