Thread: Linen or leather after honing?

Hi everyone,
I'm not sure if this question belongs in the ''Stropping'' or ''Honing'' forums, but any comments would be appreciated. My question is this: After I hone a fairly new razor, (just to sharpen it up a little), should I strop with both the linen & leather, just the leather, or not at all before the first shave? It seems that if I use the linen first, the shave is somewhat "scratchy.'' If I just use the leather then the blade seems smoother. Does the linen contribute to the sharpness immediately after honing? What would you guys recommend?

I always strop on both the canvas side of my strop and the leather side whether it is after honing or prior to shaving.

However, if you like the results off of the leather only better, than that is what works for you and that is what you should do.

There is no rule. I myself almost never use linen or canvas, just the leather, that's what I like.

I always do 60/60 linen/leather after honing, and about 20/40 before my daily shave.

The bottom line is there is no hard and fast rule. Guys do it all different ways. Experiment and see what works best for you.

I always do about 20 passes on linen and then go to various leathers to finish. These things are always subjective. Good luck.

It depends on quality of your final finishing stone. if it is very fine just go to leather. if not then linen side and leather will do the job.

I do both and my usual method after honing is 50 fabric and 100 leather. I do 30/60 fabric and leather before each shave, then 15/30 afterwards.

I never felt like linen helped my edge. Leather only. Obviously YMMV depending on much of the great insight that came out in this post.