Thread: Noob, purchasing my first razor

incorrect. i don't know what type of hanging strop you bought but if its ONLY leather then one side will be very smooth and refined. this is the side you use to strop. the other side is RAW meaning not as refined. this side isn't used. if you have linen on your hanging strop it will be covering this RAW side.

linen is exactly what it says, LINEN. as in a fabric. this is used before you do your normal stropping just before you shave. it is used to heat up the edge allowing you bit easier time aligning the steel as you do normal stropping on the smooth, pure leather side. it also helps to remove the microserations in the edge. some people use it after the shave as a means to both dry and align the edge before putting it away. not everyone has or uses linen side.


you can see here that the front side with the metal and horse head in it is the smooth side which is used for stropping. you can see as the strop bends the raw side which is not used.


you can see here a hanging strop with linen. smooth on one side and the white fabric(linen) on the back side. this is linen.

to do touch ups you use the pasted sides of the strop..these contain "grit" or cutting material that is fine and will reform that fine edge. like the people said above 5 shaves to 15 shaves or more, all depends on your use/beard type and technique/ability stropping and ofcourse the bevel. deminishing returns. you can't do touch up for 2years on a blade, eventually you will have to take it back to lower grit hones and put a good bevel back on it then just touch ups for a long time again.

for normal daily stropping just before you shave you use the plain leather side. remember to do it SPINE leading. if you go edge first you will cut into the leather and nick it, which you don't want to do. if you use a hanging strop pull it tight, use light to no pressure, lay the blade flat and go slow till you get technique down. speed does NOT matter. this daily stropping is where you can use the linen side also before the leather.

~J

ps. the above pictures were taken off Tony Millers site (for full disclosure)