Thread: White strop paste

Last night I slathered my TM 3" "smooth" canvas strop with a tube of Dovo white paste goodness.

It has really changed the strop's character. The tone when stropping is much more muted now. Before it was a hearty "ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiippp!, ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiipp", now it has more of a refined purr "VVVVVVVVVvvvvvvvvvvvvvvruup, VVVVvvvvvvvvvvvvruup!"

Anyhow...it took the entire tube to coat it up. I let it dry 24 hours,& rubbed it down with a glass bottle.


I only had a quick opportunity the strop up a razor before taking off for the weekend. I'd say that with the strop paste on there, the efficacy of the canvas is now quite noticeable, where before it was rather subtle.

I probably never would have tried it, but another strop I recently purchased already had something similar on there, and I liked the way that worked for me, so I decided to give it a go with the TM.

From a page on Classic's website:

Canvas Strop


The Canvas or Linen Strop is generally used before final stropping on the leather strop. It's purpose is to provide a very honing to the razor's edge, replacing most of the keenness which was lost in it's last use. While it has proven effective for this purpose, it will not sharpen a dull razor but will extend the period between honings.

This strop is composed of high quality linen or silk woven into a fine or coarse texture.

A fine-textured linen strop is most desirable for putting a lasting edge on a razor. To obtain the best results, a new canvas strop should be thoroughly broken in. A daily hand finish will keep its surface smooth and ready for stropping. For a hand finish, the canvas strop is given the following treatment:

• Attach the swivel end of the strop to a fixed point, such asanail.
  
• Lay the strop flat on a smooth and level surface and hold the unsecured end firmly.
  
• Rub a bar of dry soap over the strop, working it well intothe grain of the canvas.
  
• Rub a smooth glass bottle over strop several times, each time forcing the soap into the grain and also removing excess soap.
  

Many modern Linen strops often come from the manufacturer pre-treated with a very fine chalk-based abrasive. These strops are generally quite stiff when new and do not require any break-in though their performance does improve with use. Over time the chalk abrasive may be worn away. It can be replaced with Linen Strop Paste, which is itself chalk-based and usually is either white or gray in color.

Sounds like the cavas strops were designed to be loaded up with "stuff" prior to use.

All I can say is that I'm pleased so far with the Dovo white


Of course I've just started using the stuff...so I'll report more later

My NOS Craftsman strop (still sealed in the package) was coated in something that reminded me of white polish. This was the first linen strop that I thought ever did anything useful to the razor, but when it started wearing off I bought a white polish crayon from harbor freight for something like $4 for a 4 oz stick and recoated it. Seems to work just like the original coating. You have to rub it in hard to get any on the strop though because it was designed for use with high-speed buffing wheels.