Thread: I got a linen really clean. Now it has no wax. What do I do?

I'll tell you right now that Tony M is THE strop man on these forums and Joe also knows what he's talking about. Now that we've established that, here are a few tips from me:

1) If you're worried about water splashing on your strop, hang it elsewhere. If you have a small bathroom, hang it outside. No joke.
2) Tony just said that wax doesn't affect the stropping quality in any measurable way. I know that too much will just form residue on your blade and if you put the just right amount, you won't benefit from it very much if at all. I am using the strop I got from him as is and getting some pretty good shaves.
3) Even though Lynn is considered THE honemeister, when it comes to strops, I'd take Tony's word over his (if they ever came to conflict and I couldn't make an intelligent decision by weighing their arguments). Joe Chandler, Bill Ellis and Randy Tuttle are a couple of guys who know a whole bunch about honing. Randy Tuttle also knows a lot about shaving without the burn. Bill Ellis is also the guy you want to talk to about any restoration issues. When it comes to scales and restoration you should talk to Vlad Schneider. Peter is making some lovely scales as well. Soaps, creams, aftershaves and other potions are the province of Colleen Hurley and Sue. As you can see everyone has their field(s) of expertise and should be consulted accordingly. And just because someone's name isn't on the list doesn't mean they don't know what they are talking about.

icecow, don't sweat this. Just use your strop as is and see how it goes. For now just make sure it's flat. Wet a thin towel or dish cloth, wring it out, place your strop under the damp cloth and iron it over a hard surface, like a board, until the cloth is almost dry. Use some pressure on the iron. That should make the linen nice and flat. As for the iron setting, it should have a "linen" setting.

Scott

would it be insane to melt some beeswax, then add a little .25 micron paste, then let it solify again. Then lightly wax the linen with it. Then put it in the oven at 170 degrees for 10 min so it melts in?

That's what makes sense to me intuitively

help

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

I'll tell you right now that Tony M is THE strop man on these forums and Joe also knows what he's talking about. Now that we've established that, here are a few tips from me:

1) If you're worried about water splashing on your strop, hang it elsewhere. If you have a ...

That cleared a lot up about whose who. Thanks Moocho

I cut and pasted that post to notepad for a few weeks of reference.

Originally Posted by honedright

icecow, don't sweat this. Just use your strop as is and see how it goes. For now just make sure it's flat. Wet a thin towel or dish cloth, wring it out, place your strop under the damp cloth and iron it over a hard surface, like a board, until the cloth is almost dry. Use some pressure on the iron. That should make the linen nice and flat. As for the iron setting, it should have a "linen" setting.

Scott

That helps much too, thanks.

I don't see why you couldn't try that. At least now you know how to get it off of your strop if you want. Maybe you will discover something new. Just for instance, I found a registered patent for a method of preparing a linen strop using egg yolks (!!) and plumbago (whatever that is, probably a lead compound).

Scott

Ahh nothing like the combination of rotten egg smell and lead poisoning

I went back to the US Patent site to review info on strops. According to one inventor, the purpose for wax on the linen strop was to give it a smooth glossy surface and to prevent the absorption of moisture.
This makes sense since linen made from flax is highly absorbent and can absorp 20% moisture before feeling damp.

Has anyone been making strop linen out of hemp? I like those two plants (hemp and flax) for their industrial uses. Rich in oil (BD anyone?), nutritious, good textiles, good paper and can be used to make synthetic materials once the oil runs scarce.

Did a google search for hemp strop and found this:

http://www.scherenprofi.com/index.ht...ccessories.htm

The item "noble russian" is claimed to use a hemp strop.