Thread: stropping and pastes; when to use them

I just purchased my very first straight razor; strop and pastes. I bought a dovo and I got a two sided strop with linen and leather. I also bought the pastes that go with those surfaces. I have looked and read and Im kinda confused. I understand that you should strop each time before shaving but Im confused about the pastes. for daily or every other day shaving, should I be stropping on a clean strop without paste and only use paste on a different strop every once in a while to sharpen the razor up enough to make it last longer before honing is needed? OR do you treat the daily strop with the respective paste every time you're going to strop for shaving? I want to do this right. so far I've gotten mixed signals with articles stating both. one said that you should 'daily strop' on a clean leather strop and the other said to ' apply paste, work it in, let dry, strop as usual' before shaving. so which is it? I figured I get two strops. one remaining clean w/o pastes for my daily, every time im going to shave, strop and one for pastes to help keep the razor sharp and last between honings.

Originally Posted by sptcigars

I bought a dovo and I got a two sided strop with linen and leather. I also bought the pastes that go with those surfaces.

What pastes were they? There are a *lot* of pastes out there, which is probably the source of your confusion. Some pastes are simply leather conditioners, some are linen conditioners, some are highly abrasive and intended for sharpening a dull razor, some are mildly abrasive and intended for touching up a slightly dull razor, and some are incredibly fine and intended for getting a supersharp edge.

Edit: If what you have are the dovo yellow and white pastes, then the yellow paste is a leather conditioner, and the white is a linen conditioner. the white is also slightly abrasive, but it's extremely mild and intended for daily use (it's basically chalk mixed in some sort of conditioner).

personally, unless the pastes are for "conditioning" i would not use them just starting out. if your straight razor came shave ready and stropped, i would do nothing but shave with it once or twice. definitely strop the razor before every use. some people are big fans of pastes and such. i am not very comfortable with them. i would rather "refresh" the blade on a stone then paste a strop. if you were to paste a strop you might want to get a separate one for that. maybe use the inside of an old worn leather belt? kind of ghetto i know but thats how i roll. good luck and have fun!

Originally Posted by mparker762

What pastes were they? There are a *lot* of pastes out there, which is probably the source of your confusion. Some pastes are simply leather conditioners, some are linen conditioners, some are highly abrasive and intended for sharpening a dull razor, some are mildly abrasive and intended for touching up a slightly dull razor, and some are incredibly fine and intended for getting a supersharp edge.

Edit: If what you have are the dovo yellow and white pastes, then the yellow paste is a leather conditioner, and the white is a linen conditioner. the white is also slightly abrasive, but it's extremely mild and intended for daily use (it's basically chalk mixed in some sort of conditioner).

the pastes I bought are the red-fine grain for touching up a slightly dull razor- and the other is white for the linen. I figured that I would strop on clean strop both sides before shaving and then when I noticed some dulling I would use a separate strop to use the pastes. after that I would hone the razor using the method that is on the classic shaving site. I think its called the zawada honing method. even it in the end calls for stropping on treated leather strop then stropping on a clean strop. figured I'd follow that, couldnt go wrong. ???

I strop before every shave, when the razor starts to feel uncomfortable even after stropping, I touch up on CrO strop.

Originally Posted by mainaman

I strop before every shave, when the razor starts to feel uncomfortable even after stropping, I touch up on CrO strop.

so u regularly strop on a clean strop and then only use a paste when you start to feel discomfort? I imagine that CrO mean chromium oxide. where can I find that. I searched on classic shaving but they didnt have anything that specifically stated that

Originally Posted by sptcigars

so u regularly strop on a clean strop and then only use a paste when you start to feel discomfort? I imagine that CrO mean chromium oxide. where can I find that. I searched on classic shaving but they didnt have anything that specifically stated that

yes regular leather strop bfore every shave. Chromium Oxide (CrO) when needed.
If you life in US, Handamerican is the place to go. Get the liquid and the powder. The liquid is god to prep your strop for application of the powder on top. They also sell magnetic backed lather strops with a base the are great for both knives and razors stroping

StraightRazorDesigns' 0.5 micron "crayon" is good.
Kremer Pigments 0.3 micron powder is good.

Kremer Pigments
247 West 29th Street
New York, NY 10001
212-219-2394 voice
212-219-2395 fax
Kremer Pigments Inc. NYC
[email protected]

Chromium Oxide powder
100 grams
$7.80 plus $9.50 shipping... $17.30

Originally Posted by sptcigars

so u regularly strop on a clean strop and then only use a paste when you start to feel discomfort? I imagine that CrO mean chromium oxide. where can I find that. I searched on classic shaving but they didnt have anything that specifically stated that

Hi sptcigars, and welcome!

Classicshaving lists their Chromium Oxide lapping paste in their "strops and hones" section: Razor Strops, Hones, and Accessories

Cheers,
Jeff