List comprehension [num.strip() for num in hello]
is the fastest.
>>> import timeit
>>> hello = ['999 ',' 666 ']
>>> t1 = lambda: map(str.strip, hello)
>>> timeit.timeit(t1)
1.825870468015296
>>> t2 = lambda: list(map(str.strip, hello))
>>> timeit.timeit(t2)
2.2825958750515269
>>> t3 = lambda: [num.strip() for num in hello]
>>> timeit.timeit(t3)
1.4320335103944899
>>> t4 = lambda: [num.replace(' ', '') for num in hello]
>>> timeit.timeit(t4)
1.7670568718943969