Thread: Linen Strop Paste

For what it's worth I tried a little test out a while back. I took my first strop (Illinois 827) that I had first purchased and know use strickly as a backup and applied the white Dovo paste to the linen section of the strop. I routinely strop both linen and leather both before and after shaving. I would normally use .5 micron chromium oxide green paste on a paddle strop every 2-3 shaves for touch-ups but for test purposes I stopped this practice to see what if any difference the white Dovo paste would make. I saw no improvement in my stropped edges and they did not last as long then when I would do my touch-ups with the .5 chromium oxide. If anything they seemed duller.Maybe in the old days when there were less options for the straight razor user the white paste and chauk substances had their place in a honing arsenal but I would rather use straight linen and do my touch-ups with either the .5 ch. ox or diamond paste to stretch out my razor edges between trips to a hone. This is just my humble opinion.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Your comment is the first time I have heard that it is not abrasive.
Oh the variables we have to contend with!

Well, I said that it don't look like abrasive to me. The truth is that I cannot tell the difference between using linen and letter only... When I first got the DOVO strop, the linen side was treated with the white paste, so it looked like it was made from cotton. After some months of use, it changed the color to a light brownish, the way that untreated linen material looks... I apply the DOVO White paste once every 3-4 months.

Nenad

sorry. guess i got my microscopic exoskeletons mixed up.

Before i learned to strop properly i used to use the white paste on the linen side and strop with it before every shave. Now however i barely even use the linen side and when i do i dont use the white paste (and have sluiced it out of the linen when cleaning my strop). Whyen i do use it I find that without the paste the strop has more 'bite' and seems to work a lot quicker. Not exactly a scientific test mind.