Thread: White paste for canvas

OK, so every once in a while I hold forth on the benefits of the white paste for your canvas strop.

But this time, instead of just the usual hot air from me, I'll throw out a couple of pictures as well, since we all like pics of shaving apparatus here!


OK, so--first the obligatory hot air! Many folks wonder about the effectiveness of canvas/linen stropping. I did myself when I first got my TM Artisan. But, I like to strop, so I always used the naked canvas anyhow, even though I could not tell if it was having any effect or not.

I then came across an article on Classic Shaving's website that dealt with strops:How-To and Why -

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 as a nail.
  
• 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 into the 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.

Thus, one dark and stormy night I order up a tube of the mysterious Dovo White. I spread it out all over my lovely TM smooth canvas strop......the first thing I notice is that it filled in all of the weave on the canvas. Hmmm, interesting indeed.

Next thing I notice is that stropping on the white pasted strop quite noticibly improves the razor keeness. Not a placeebo effect, but really sharpens it up. It's not as aggressive as ChromOx, but definitely has a mild abrasive quality to it.

In summary: I use my pasted cavas daily on the razor I'm about to shave with. Followed up by some latigo fandango, and I'm styling into another shave!


Oh, almost forgot the pics!

Pic #1 is the backside of the canvas strop tyo give an idea of the starting condition.

Pic #2 shows the white pasted canvas strop. Shiny and smooth!