Stropping is the very last thing you do First you need to sharpen the item using (my preferences) medium, fine, extra or very fine diamond "stones" go from one stone to the next (coarsest to finest) you get the initial edge from med. then go to fine and remove all marks from the med. stone then to the extra fine make sure you remove all of the marks that the fine stone left. go from one stone to the next (coarsest to finest) only after you have removed all of the marks from the previous stone if you go from med to fine then to extra fine to quickly the end results will be poor.
Ensure that each pass you make on the stones is the same as the previous or you will not be able to maintain an edge and will just sharpen your tool to nothing.
Only when you have removed all of the marks from the fine stone with the extra fine do you attempt to strop. Sharpening removes metal and builds a burr on the tip of the of the edge the strop basically removes that microscopic edge. The reason is that when you use the edge it rolls the burr over and causes the the blade to become dull. The use of a steel pushes the burr back over the edge and "smooths the edge" the strop using superfine grit removes the edge if used regularly it will maintain the edge (unless the edge is chipped our bent) here is a good siite that even though is for a knife will give you all the technique to get it right
Stropping
As with sharpening it is critical that you use the same stroke angle and pressure for each stroke or you will mess it up. Good Luck