Thread: Canvas or Linen?

Originally Posted by bokaba

Which is better? Or only leather?

Hmmm... old threads should be locked... but here goes.

Canvas or Linen...??

There is cotton canvas, there is linen canvas, there is hemp canvas
there is ...... canvas is the weave and weight of the fabric.

Is the question "canvas or leather?"

If so the answer is both canvas and leather are important
tools to maintain and set a straight razor's edge.

To maintain an edge a clean canvas followed by
leather is the time proven solution with most of
the stropping on leather. A canvas has fiber that
can snag and grab small burrs and hooks on the edge
and straighten or eliminate them. Leather
smooths the edge and perfects what the canvas did.
Over time canvas will collect small bits of steel which
will oxidize and then act like sub-micron abrasive same
with small bits of carbide.

After honing the canvas does what canvas does and
is important to very important depending on the steel, hone
and honer. Hones especially classic hones leave
more imperfections than shaving imparts on an
edge. After honing more strokes on the canvas
are often called for depending on the hone. Modern +12K
Hones not so much....

My rule of thumb to start..
After shaving 10 canvas followed by 20-40 on leather
After honing 50-70 canvas followed by 40-60 leather.

For after honing 12Ksuperstone I like to have a canvas that has a light
spritz of 0.5 micron or 0.25 micron abrasive on it.

After honing on a barber hone I am finding 1 or 2 micron diamond
on leather or canvas helps a lot. I have started using a smear
of toothpaste on my barber hone and that results in a finer
edge for me (your mileage may vary) that I am learning to like.


Summary:
Stropping after shaving is not the same game as stropping after honing.

For most of us that just shave -- clean canvas 10-20 strokes
followed by 20-50 on leather is a good place to start.

For those that hone razors.... what ever works, works.

defanatley tony millers linen