Thread: Cloth equals dulling?

I am convinced that my stropping on cotton, canvas, and "premium" alone makes my edge duller, not sharper. Only many strokes on leather or diamond paste brings back the fine edge. Am I doing something wrong, or in general does cloth tend to dull a blade slightly before the leather brings the edge back on?

Originally Posted by Brent375HH

I am convinced that my stropping on cotton, canvas, and "premium" alone makes my edge duller, not sharper. . I Am doing something wrong,

Here I fixed your problem for you

Yes I am having a bit of fun with Ya but yes you are doing something wrong or the Linen is wrong

On my strop Linen definitely improves my edge. What is the linen on your strop like? If it's an old strop and it's not white or off white it might be pasted with something

Did you ever meet up with Randy Tuttle (randydance062449)? If not, we can take a look at the strop if you ever come over

I have not met up with Randy as of yet. I tried two new strops last night. One cheap & one premium. If they don't make it duller, I sure don't think they make it sharper. If cleaning is done on cloth, then I would be inclined to give it 5-10 on cloth and 50 on leather. Maybe they also need to get broken in or ironed, since they are brand new and kind of bumpy.

Some of the new linen strops are very different than the old ones. The old ones seem a lot softer compared to the new ones especially Illinois strop linen seems very stiff.

Originally Posted by Brent375HH

I have not met up with Randy as of yet. I tried two new strops last night. One cheap & one premium. If they don't make it duller, I sure don't think they make it sharper. If cleaning is done on cloth, then I would be inclined to give it 5-10 on cloth and 50 on leather. Maybe they also need to get broken in or ironed, since they are brand new and kind of bumpy.

"Linen was sometimes used as currency in ancient Egypt. Egyptian mummies were wrapped in linen as a symbol of light and purity, and as a display of wealth."
You can't go wrong with OFL (Old Field Linen). We have some old flax fields here...

Be certain you have the strop taught enough. IF not, it is possible to roll the edge on any hanging strop.

All fabric, be it linen, canvas, flax, felt etc etc, can straighten the edge out to some extent but won't have the burnishing effects of leather. After use of a fabric your razor should be improved. If not either there is a problem with the fabric or what you are doing. If new it is likely what you are doing. Stropping on any appropriate substrate should have a positive effect

As I mentioned in another similar post about fabric strops, I never had a detrimental effect from cotton, linen, coarse or fine weave materials. I actually find that stiff fabric on the illinois strops very good. Other than possibly stropping technique check to see of the fabric strop is contaminated with dirt or anything that might cause dulling.

I've always found stropping, both on linen and leather, to improve my edge, rather than dull it. Except possibly when I first started years ago, before I figured out what I was doing.