Yes… linen to clean then leather to polish.

Kind of like washing the car before you polish & wax. Linen/flax does have some natural abrasiveness to it to clean and polish.

Look at your razor just before you strop under magnification, it is surprising what is on the blade, bevel and edge. Skin, soap, blood, dust and who knows what. If you don’t strop on linen or something first, all that gets imbedded into or on your fine leather.