Thread: stroppy.

Hi all

My strop came with my cheap and pile of poo razor. The leather side of it feels as stiff as cardboard (the backside of this looks like a cheap plastic belt ) The so called canvas side is obviously some kind of nylon/plastic affair ( also looks like cheap belt )
Should I oil it?
Paste it?
Throw it in the trash and get a decent one?
Your thoughts please?

Well my first questions would be, what strop is it? Chicago? Dovo? SRD? Next I would probably tell you that a lot of new strops start out very stiff. What makes a strop good, in my opinion, is how it's treated for the first year or so. I rub the palm of my hand across my strop before stropping every time and over time the oils from my hand condition the leather and make it a much more supple and strop-able surface. Others may recommend linseed oil which also works great. For the canvas or mesh strop, chromium oxide paste lightly applied will go a long way. Lynn Abrams from SRD has created several great how to videos on this topic.

Originally Posted by quicksilver

Well my first questions would be, what strop is it? Chicago? Dovo? SRD? Next I would probably tell you that a lot of new strops start out very stiff. What makes a strop good, in my opinion, is how it's treated for the first year or so. I rub the palm of my hand across my strop before stropping every time and over time the oils from my hand condition the leather and make it a much more supple and strop-able surface. Others may recommend linseed oil which also works great. For the canvas or mesh strop, chromium oxide paste lightly applied will go a long way. Lynn Abrams from SRD has created several great how to videos on this topic.

Hi quicksilver, the strop is unnamed and probably Chinese origin.

To further my original post my first strop was homemade, I just bought a strip of roo, cut it to size and improvised some hardware from hinges, 2 years later it still serves me well.

I have both hanging and paddle strops and like them both. I use the SRD modular paddle for pastes on some of the changeable pads and leather and rough leather for regular stropping. I also have both SRD and other hanging strops. They all work. Sometimes when I want to be sure my stropping technique is sound I go exclusively to the paddle. Most times, i use the hanging strop.

Originally Posted by Neils1304

Hi all

My strop came with my cheap and pile of poo razor. The leather side of it feels as stiff as cardboard (the backside of this looks like a cheap plastic belt ) The so called canvas side is obviously some kind of nylon/plastic affair ( also looks like cheap belt )
Should I oil it?
Paste it?
Throw it in the trash and get a decent one?
Your thoughts please?

Two things...both have held true for many years:

1. You get what you pay for.
2. What price glory?

I bought a Tony Miller 3" strop. Cost about $90 if I recall. It is all I would really need for a lifetime.
I did pick up a 3" Russian oil tanned Herold strop a couple years later..mostly for travel. It too, is pretty much all the strop I would see myself as needing. It was about $55.
The Miller strop is a much nicer bit of goods from an aesthetic perspective. Both work quite well at their intended task.

Neil, if it's from menkind like your razor its probably crap. If your proficient at stropping throw it away, if not use it as a practice strop with a butter knife until your technique is good.
To me a good strop is just as important as a good razor to obtain a great shave.

Thanks guys.
I kind of expected that it was a pile of .... I think my technique is ok, I have watched the videos available and am quite confident I am not rolling the edge. I am getting quite OCD about this (or CDO as I like to say, then the letters are alphabetical ) lol.
Ok next question.
A strop or a paddle strop.

Hanging strop for me. I do have a paddle strop from Thiers Issard that is pasted with cro ox but for every day use its a nice leather hanging strop with linen as the secondary material. Now what leather is another question. In this game its all very personal and what I like and what you like could be very different. Personally I like a strop with a light, fast draw, Shell Cordovan being my favourite.

But Neil, what about loom strops? ....
On a serious note, I have only ever used hanging strops for daily use, I recently made a paddle for pastes, but think for daily use I would prefer a hanger.
I have read that paddles can be easier for beginners because it takes the variable of tension out, they may be more convenient if you have nowhere to hang a strop.
I thought I read in one of your previous posts that you used to straight razor shave some years ago but all your gear got lost, what did you use then?