Thread: Using only Cotton Fabric to Strop

Tony Miller has a really nice fine-weave cotton fabric he uses with his strops. I had a piece of it made into a strop (no leather-just the fabric) with the intention of using is as a "travel strop". I figured it would be easy enough to pack and I would have no worries as are the case when travelling with a leather strop. Now the question is...will stropping on fabric alone do a decent enough job of keeping a blade in good enough shave condition for a week or two??

I think you should try it and report back. I'd like to know a definite answer. I know there are guys that use the leather only. I have not heard of fabric only, but denim is suppose to work well for the long haul so I can't imagine it being bad.

I'm a Big Believer in 'Playing' or 'Experimenting' I've shaved off of a 1K, 4K, 8K and 12K edge with no stropping and then after stropping just to see what the difference the stropping made. I learned A Lot!

I've also done the same with just using the cloth and shaving and then the leather for comparison. I won't disclose what 'I' found but I do hope that the OP will take the time to 'Play' and report back what he finds from experimenting.

I think if the fabric alone was enough you would have seen it being used over the years but you don't. You would never see an old time barber without his leather strop. I don't think there are any good substitutes.

Way back in the archives here

When SRD first realeased their Pressed Felt Strops I tried mine out first before using Diamond spray on it,, as an everyday strop.. I know it isn't quite the same but it did work pretty darn good, I would agree with TBS that Leather is the shizit however..
As a travel strop I normally use newspaper and then the back of my leather wallet, but I think the Linnen/Cotton will do just fine

Almost, as good, but not quite.

I have experimented for years. Cotton Canvas is good, Polyester Canvas even better. Fine weave Nylon, seat belt type, not seatbelts (used they are too dirty and contain a lot of grit) is the best substitute, but either work great as a linen substitute.
Nylon and Polyester strapping is great for novices as they are very hard to cut and nick. For the novice they will produce as good an edge as leather, technique is more important than the substrate.

All weaves, cotton, nylon and polyester are great for pasting.

A razor edge is very thin and does not take much to straighten and polish, which is why in a pinch, you hand, really does work.

What I found very interesting was the 1961 Barber Manual in the SRP Wiki/Library here says that stropping is essential, no surprise, but that the second cloth, linen or canvas, "may or may not be necessary depending on the individual's coordination of hone and strop. With some types of hones however the canvas is considered to be necessary,"

I've seen a lot of debate on the second component and there are some who feel it is not necessary. The first time I read that in the manual I thought it was really interesting that the debate extended back that far, and no doubt further, and was important enough to be included in a pro barber's manual.

Keith De Grau, maker of HandAmerican 'Old Dog' strops made his with two leather components. He told me he wasn't against the cloth, but he didn't think cloth of sufficient quality was available so he would use a second component of scrub leather, or in one instance, the second component was a Russian cut leather.

If I'm on any side it is the second component, whether linen, or cotton, is necessary for me. YMMV. For traveling it wouldn't be an issue for me. That is what DEs are for.

Have never used the linen on any of my strops,leather only,seems to work just fine.