Thread: Added Linen. Improvement?

Originally Posted by ace

I found that linen seemed a bit harsh on my blades, micro-chipping them. I can't prove that the linen was the culprit, but the problem has not resurfaced since I went back to plain leather only.

Could it be that you have the residue of past pastes and metal filings that have accumulated on to and in to the linen there. While I haven't tried it on my strop s there may be away of washing it out and the chipping might stop. Any ideas??

I have re-conditioned Linen in the past,,

I used a stiff Nylon scrub brush and powdered laundry detergent to scrub it clean, I dried it inside a flat folded over towel with a weighted board on it..

I used simple plain white Chalkboard Chalk and a few light coats of Aquanet hairspray to set it back up...rub the chalk on, spray lightly, rub the chalk on, spray lightly, rub the chalk on and that should finish it...
I did this on my very first strop several times in the 20+ years before I found SRP, this was what I was told by the Barber who got me started with this crazy way of shaving.. It worked fine

Seriously, you wouldn't believe it. Forgot again. I'm a robot. I'm going right now to make a note.

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

Seriously, you wouldn't believe it. Forgot again. I'm a robot. I'm going right now to make a note.

Memory is the last thing to go.

Michael

Originally Posted by mjsorkin

Memory is the last thing to go.

Michael

No, memory is the 2nd thing to go. I just can't remember what the first is.

Yeah, must be the first, cause everything else is in tip top condition. I'm quite astonishing actually...

I never noticed much improvement with linen; was possibly doing it wrong. When the razor needs linen, I just give it 2 or 3 laps on a barber hone. Works faster for me, YMMV.

Linen does no harm, but it also does nothing good in my opinion except for cleaning the bevel.

Leather is KING. Linen is virtually useless in my opinion.

My take on linen is that its primary use is to clean off stuff you don't want on your leather strop. I think it is better to put any leftover shaving soap, oil and any blade oxidation on the linen rather than the leather.

Just my $.02

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I have re-conditioned Linen in the past,,

I used a stiff Nylon scrub brush and powdered laundry detergent to scrub it clean, .....

I used simple plain white Chalkboard Chalk and a few light coats of Aquanet hairspray to set it back up...
....
It worked fine

Quality chalk is classic. There are references that describe the use of chalk on vibrating
rotating glass to hone medical microtome blades. In the same article there is a comment
that the edge is "too sharp" for shaving. Today some here call it the darn (*%& Feather edge
or in kinder moments a harsh edge.

Hone dust or chalk they both add to the feel and effectiveness of some strops.
White Dovo strop paste is a mix of diamond and chalk in a waxy base. The need
to paste or not paste a strop is a whole thread on to itself but after honing a
light visit to a pasted strop is a good thing (IMO).

Years ago my barber used a razor for the final tidy up of the back of
my neck and sides (before I had whiskers). His routine was mostly
leather but if the edge was not restored on the leather he would go
to canvas. i.e. with a quick shave test he knew if the razor and the customer
were matched. In the #4 chair was Nick... he was always thrashing his
razor on the strop while the owner in the #1 chair just seemed to strop
and shave. Perhaps Nick was not his real name.....

If I recall he said twelve times more leather than canvas... mostly leather.

And IMO the routine need for chalk or paste is "the old school" that predate modern
water hones. Remember that ultra fine abrasives like submicron diamond are
a modern tool.


So for a shaver:
Canvas to clean the edge as needed and leather to perfect and restore the edge.

And after honing:
Pasted canvas can add a final polish, tidy up the small burrs
left by hones and also soften the edge so it is not too harsh.