Thread: Strop and paste

Sorry for another dumb newbie question, but here it goes.

I purchased a paddle strop with smooth leather one side and rough leather on the other side. On which side do I put the 0.5 micron CrO paste?

Thanks!

This wiki article may help:
Pasting a strop - a photo tutorial - Straight Razor Place Wiki

The wiki did leave me the question of pasting the leather vs. linen. It appears you can do both. Not sure what, or what to notice, or what should be done first. I'm also not clear if you need a set of leather/linen strops without paste, and strops of leather/linen with paste? Or perhaps the webbed strop is sufficient enough without paste?

Jake

Linen has no abrasive quality, and neither does a webbing. What surface you apply pastes (good background info on pastes is in here: What hone(s) do I need? - Straight Razor Place Wiki) to does not really matter, as long as it is reasonably flat. According to Lynn, CrO works great on webbing, too, but I personally prefer a small pasted balsa "hone".

Regards,
Robin

You should always have a plain leather (unpasted) strop to use as your final strop prior to shaving.

As for the paddle strop, it depends on how "rough" the "rough" side is. I've seen some heavy suede almost shaggy flesh sides of leather used for pastes. To each their own, but really shaggy flesh side leather is too much for my preference. A mild suede or velvet finish works well. The smooth side (grain side) certainly works well for pasting. However, if that's the only strop you have, it would not make sense to paste the smooth grain side and leave the flesh side for final stropping.

Linen: Certainly it can be pasted. Straight razor shaving and maintenance is a universe of experimentation. I'd advocate trying linen with no paste first (linen then leather) and see if it does anything for you.

Chris L