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This article and this video, amongst others, claim that you can extend the useful lifespan of razor blades for a substantial amount (months), if you regularly stroke them over jeans, immediately after using them. Aforementioned article states that this is also known as the Blue Jean Sharpening Method.

Is there any evidence for this claim? And if so, how does it work? And lastly, is this supposed to work with other types of fabric and/or cloth as well?

Decent Dabbler
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    Which type of blades are you limiting this claim to? [Razor stropping](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor_strop) has been used on straight razors for a long time and has been used on single and double-edge safety razors, but for modern cartridge razors the gap between the blades is going to be the limiting factor. – rjzii Jan 25 '13 at 17:40
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    @RobZ I'm curious about the cartridge-type of razors. – Decent Dabbler Jan 27 '13 at 17:27

1 Answers1

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I am a knifemaker in New Zealand so I have some experience with blades. I can tell you that with a normal knife stropping is commonly used to prolong the edge of the knife as Rob Z stated before me. It is also used to get the burr off a freshly sharpened blade. This is achieved by stroking the blade at a low angle with the spine leading along a soft material. The palm of your hand is a common one and is suprisingly effective. Canvas, denim and leather are a few others. This does not sharpen the blade but re-aligns the edge.

I doubt you could achieve much on the multi bladed shaving razors as you need to have access to both edges but the theory is there.

What the guy in the instructable is talking about is based on what I have mentioned above but will not work, jeans will never sharpen razor blades no matter how many times you stroke them. His tips about keeping them dry and clean is very true though. Stopping blades from rusting is my biggest concern. Even if they say they are stainless they will still rust enough to destroy the edge very quickly.

Stropping your kitchen knives (a knife steel is a form of strop) and straight razors is a very good idea, trying to strop your shaving razor is waste of time. Keep them clean and dry and you will get more life out of them.

Sklivvz
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George
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    You are using yourself as a reference. If put in a link to your homepage or anything to prove your expertise in the area it would be helpful and improve the answers trustworthiness. – Wertilq Feb 25 '13 at 10:01
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    Actually, even that wouldn't be sufficient. An appeal to authority is a poor form of evidence. Better would be a reference to how you know this is true: experimental results. – Oddthinking Feb 25 '13 at 10:06
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    I think that is a bit harsh, and that the site misses out on quite a bit of information, by unecessary strict level of formalities. Don't let silly formalities get in the way of a good answer. If the guy can prove his expertise then that should be a good enough source, by only accepting written down things as references, you miss out on lots of things, and become too close minded. – Wertilq Feb 25 '13 at 14:21
  • Though strict levels of formality may result in us missing valuable information, it is, I think, more important that they curb the spread of disinformation. – Publius Feb 26 '13 at 01:02
  • The thing is, disinformation STILL gets through almost as easily, as long as you have a proper source of disinformation. The core of science is empiricism and logic. If you disallow either of the two of them you are shooting yourself in the leg and what you're doing is not science, it's just the same thing you tried to stop. – Wertilq Feb 26 '13 at 17:36
  • A couple links that could be worked into the answer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stropping_%28blade%29 , http://www.classicshaving.com/articles/article/590351/4057.htm , http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/sharpen/instrazor.html – Stefan Feb 26 '13 at 22:00
  • Wertilq: citing your own experience constitutes neither empiricism nor logic. – Publius Feb 27 '13 at 10:36