Thread: Strop video

Historically, linen was included with most strops. I presume there was a reason for that? Personally, I use the linen for 10-20 laps and then the plain leather strop for 40-60 laps just before each shave. It has worked well for me. Just one caveat... there are a bunch of different linens, with different finishes and textures. Some of the linen's were coated with abrasives but not very many.

Try it both ways and see which you prefer.

From all that I gather from barber books and what I've found online, the performance of linen (by itself) on a blade is a big question mark. The books I've read say the jury is still out on the topic.

I personally think that its original use was intended to clean and dry a razor after use. I think further down the road people found they could add an abrasive for light touch ups to put off the need to re-hone. I think this became popular and synonymous with the need for and the sharpening properties of a linen strop. That's just my theory.

You have to figure that just like today it takes some talent to get a razor shave ready and even more to get it scary sharp. Many people would pay to have their metal work sharpened (especially in a urban environment). I'm sure if you could prolong that with a few swipes on a linen strop pasted with an abrasive it would be a welcomed savings.

When I was a child people made a living sharpening scissors, tools, knifes and I'm sure even a few straight razors from time to time. There was a shop a town away where an old gentleman worked his craft. In the summer he used to push a little cart (the cart was over a hundred years old) that had a weird sounding bell or rattling device on it (triggered by the wheels) that you could tell the master sharpener was coming and you needed to get your knifes, etc. ready to bring to him. I'm sure this was life back in the old days. Back in the day (he told my mother once) when you bought knifes, scissors, etc. you invested in a tool that with care would last you your life. His day was coming to an end due to cheap disposable knifes, scissors, etc.. If it gets dull you just throw it away and buy a new one. Said but true. But there's nothing like a well made tool, I would rather take the time and learn how to sharpen it than work with some cheap piece of crap disposable. But I digress...

As they say, do what works for you... I strop on pasted linen every time. However, i also do just a couple of strokes on the pasted linen after my shave. Firstly, as others have said, this way I know the edge is dry. The strop also seems to coat the blade in a very fine layer of the paste (because the mirror finish seems to be obscured), which I would imagine will help to keep corrosion at bay.

BTW, what kind of linen strop is he using in that video (pasted green)?

The small strop is a pasted leather strop, the linen is on the big strop and is untreated (at least he doesn't mention anything about it).