Firebox,

IIRC, someone posted that they had the opportunity to speak with the son of the founder of the Illionois Strop Co. The Illionois scion was a very old man at the time of this conversation, but said that the linen was intended to remove any slight corrosion that may have developed on the edge of the razor since it had been put away, and that it was intended to be used for that puropse before using the leather side of the strop.

sounds good, Bruce