Thread: Is White Paste on Linen Necessary?

Hi, All,
I washed the linen side of my strop last night. It washed out great.
However, it now has a slightly different feel to it, but seems to work just fine.
Do I really NEED to apply the white linen strop paste, or does a plain, untreated linen side work just as well? Is there something other than the tube paste that would be effective?
Thanks,
Ron A.

The white paste isn't a requirement. There are many traditional applications such as candle wax if your interested but I like mine plain most of the time.

Is there an advantage to washing the linen, or is it cosmetic?

Unless it gets really grungy I wouldn't wash it. As long as its doing its job its fine. My choice is to not apply pastes to it but there are several things you can use if you feel you have to. There's the paste, there is soap, there's wax. I'm sure others will have their favorites.