Linen treatments

Hi all, I am looking for some advice.

I purchased a TM strop with real linen about a month ago and I have noticed that the linen is starting to 'fuzz up' (for lack of a better explanation) on the side that I am using to strop my razors on.

I am sure that this is not affecting the performance of the strop and I appreciate that the material is real linen and prone to wear, however I was wondering if anyone can recommend something to treat the linen with to prolong it's lifetime, and/or whether my observation is seen by any of you.

Ivan


p.s. Tony suggested that I ask people here for their opinion, and I am 100% satisfied with the craftsmanship and quality of my strop.

I have some vintage linen I cleaned (in the process the treatment was gone) - works very well.

I also melt pure beeswax on another one, ironed it, and scraped off the excess. Works well too, very different feel but the important thing is the edge feels nice either way. The waxed one has much less draw, of course

Cheers
Ivo

I just got a NOS strop and the linen side has a light wax finish on it.

Thanks for the input.

Ivo, on your vintage strop have you noticed any wear in the linen?
I'm interested in knowing if others observed wear in theirs, as I'm wondering if I'm just too rough on my strop.

Also, how did you get an even coating of wax? Do you think rubbing the wax on the linen (to get a very light coat) and then ironing it out would work better than dripping wax right onto it?

Ivan,

I don't notice much wear without - but I use several strops, not just one.

Rubbing vs melting seems a good idea to try - but I have not done it and cannot say how well it will work. My guess is that you won't get enough on the strop by rubbing, but I may be wrong

If I try it, I'll share results - but it seems you'll beat me to it

Cheers
Ivo

For now I think I'll leave it as is. If I notice it getting worse in the next month or so I'll give the beeswax a try as it sounds like a good idea.

Thanks for the input, I'll keep you posted.

Ivan

I have one of Tony's real linen strops. It becomes a bit fuzzy but that does not effect its performance. Leave it as it is.

Ivan, I'll give you an unused tube of dovo white linen paste if you want to try it (well, you pay the shipping to Toronto). I scrapped all my linen strops long ago. I didn't get around to throwing away the paste.

All - any opinions on the dovo linen paste?

Thanks Johnny,

I really appreciate the offer, but I think at the moment I'll leave it as is. Is the white paste an abrasive?

How come you scrapped your linen strops? I haven't tried not using one as I assume they were made for a purpose and most strops come with one. Maybe I should experiment.

Thanks again!! I'll let you know if I change my mind.