Thread: Canvas vs. Linen

I rewarded myself for hitting the 50 shave mark with a KenRup Paladin with all the fixings. 3" horsehide with a 2" canvas attached. I had the "Filly" previously, which comes just with the cowhide leather and a reverse-side pasted with CrOx.

So, this is my first strop with anything but leather. I read about many guys' routines for stropping and many of them included "linen" stropping prior to leather, either before shaving, after, or both.

My question is: Is the canvas strop close to linen in this respect? In taking one of my duller razors to the canvas, I noticed that it is a loud, seemingly abrasive (at least by feel) stroke, so before I do any potential damage, I figured I'd come to the experts.

What say ye? What are the similarities/differences?

Grazie,

Ogie

Personally, I put teh Dovo white paste on my canvas strop. It fills in the weave, and definitely freshens up the edge!

Prior to that, the canvas was quite loud and I could not discern any benefits to stropping with it.

Ogie,

I have a TM strop and upgraded to the genuine linen as part of my combo along with horsehide. I've been quite pleased with it's performance. In theory, I believe the canvas/linen piece serves the purpose of deburring along with heating through a bit of friction, although I could be wrong here. My former strop had canvas on it which did not seem to provide as much drag as the linen, IMO.

Joe

My personal preference is for a linen strop with
a fine weave, such as Tony Miller's genuine linen.
I prefer the feel of this over the cotton strops I
have used.

The Dovo Best Russian strop has a linen side that
is a bit thicker weave than Tony's, but they treat
it with the white paste so the resulting surface is
really great.

- Scott

Originally Posted by sebell

My personal preference is for a linen strop with
a fine weave, such as Tony Miller's genuine linen.
I prefer the feel of this over the cotton strops I
have used.

The Dovo Best Russian strop has a linen side that
is a bit thicker weave than Tony's, but they treat
it with the white paste so the resulting surface is
really great.

- Scott

Scott,
Dovo typically uses hemp as their fiber, "hanf" I think it is in German. It is a similar, coarse/hard fiber and should have a similar effect. I find that cotton fibers are softer, maybe due to processing, maybe just naturally softer..

Tony

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

Scott,
Dovo typically uses hemp as their fiber, "hanf" I think it is in German. It is a similar, coarse/hard fiber and should have a similar effect. I find that cotton fibers are softer, maybe due to processing, maybe just naturally softer..

Tony

Thanks for the info, Tony. I haven't tried your
new cotton weave -- how would you describe
the surface of that strop relative to the previous
cotton that you sold?

Regards,

- Scott

Originally Posted by sebell

Thanks for the info, Tony. I haven't tried your
new cotton weave -- how would you describe
the surface of that strop relative to the previous
cotton that you sold?

Regards,

- Scott

Scott,
The newer stuff (last year/year and a half maybe) is a much finer weave, about as smooth a surface as my genuine linen but with a firm temper, maybe like a manila folder in stiffness. It has very fine threads and a tight weave. My old stuff is very coarse with larger threads and a corregated weave. Some guys liked it, others not. I feel the newer stuff is a great improvement.
My 2" cotton is a coarse weave, medium threads but very soft and limp. I don't think it would be as suitable on a 2 1/2" or 3" strop but does nicely on a 2".
Thanks,
Tony

Ok... so what everybody's saying is that canvas is probably not going to do very much for me if used on its own?

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

Ok... so what everybody's saying is that canvas is probably not going to do very much for me if used on its own?

No, it will still work just fine! My preference
comes from the feel of the strop, but now I
have more to purchase from Tony if I want
to try 'em all

- Scott

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

Ok... so what everybody's saying is that canvas is probably not going to do very much for me if used on its own?

It works but cotton is slower and less aggressive than linen so it benefits more from the dovo white paste.