Thread: When to paste your strop?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I think it kind of tries to emulate the old chalk loading the linen strops of old had without all the stiffness.

Of course that's just a guess.

Good guess TBS i was just reading about DOVO white paste and its mildly abrasive and it does contain chalk!

I've been using SRD's chromium oxide paste and I started out with just a little bit on there... I've found myself lately just rubbing on a little more each time before using the pasted linen side of my strop. I think partly because the crox "crayon' works better when it's a on a little heavier, and partly because it just makes me feel good. Maybe with the stick you have to load the linen a bit more than with other delivery methods, but I've been pretty happy with the results lately. I do about 35 laps after honing or to touch up a razor between hones and I'm set! Curious what some others are doing and using also... I think my next strop will have felt just because I find the sound and feel of the nylon webbing a bit annoying. Like a fat kid with corduroy jeans. "zip zip zip zip!"

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Dovo has a Linen White Paste Dressing that they use.. I am going to give a number of razors instead of time so you can figure it out for your self

I go about 1000 razors before I clean and re-dress a linen strop

1000! Man that's like 3.8 years worth of shaving for me lol! That little tube is going to last me forever lol.

I think I reapply my Dovo white paste every three months or something like that - I don't know why? There's no science behind my madness. To be honest - I think my doing such has made my strop a little messy, and makes it necessary to clean it a bit sooner. YMMV.

I still put it on though.

David are you cleaning the strop before re-dressing the strop or are you just adding more and more ?????

Originally Posted by gssixgun

David are you cleaning the strop before re-dressing the strop or are you just adding more and more ?????

Uh... just adding more and more. That's a bad thing isn't it lol?

Originally Posted by earcutter

Uh... just adding more and more. That's a bad thing isn't it lol?

"But it said so on the bottle!"

Bad is relative

The dark marks on the linen are basically steel/rust/stuff, I would think that just adding more paste on top would push that deeper in the linen, I do not know for sure...

That was always my thought so I cleaned them first then re-dressed them,, although when I learned it I used chalk and hairspray

Glen --
My strop is 15 years old. I wash the linen side of my strop about once per year with laundry detergent and a brush with stiff nylon bristles, as my grandfather taught me. I've never applied any dressing of any kind to it on either side. In your opinion, is paste a useful additive for increasing the lifespan and/or effectiveness of my linen?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Bad is relative

The dark marks on the linen are basically steel/rust/stuff, I would think that just adding more paste on top would push that deeper in the linen, I do not know for sure...

That was always my thought so I cleaned them first then re-dressed them,, although when I learned it I used chalk and hairspray

I get it - thanks Glen.

I think... I think but I don't know for sure - that I have run about two fifty or so strops with it since I got this one, and yeah it's getting a bit messy. I don't know why, but lately it just seems like I am getting more "stuff" on it faster than normal. You know - it could be because I am just adding and adding.

Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

Glen --
My strop is 15 years old. I wash the linen side of my strop about once per year with laundry detergent and a brush with stiff nylon bristles, as my grandfather taught me. I've never applied any dressing of any kind to it on either side. In your opinion, is paste a useful additive for increasing the lifespan and/or effectiveness of my linen?

I did the exact same, the Barber that taught me years ago showed me the Chalk and Hairspray trick after cleaning.. In his veiw he thought it was much better for the edge, I did it that way, and never had problems... Again try it and see what you find, Pastes are an acquired taste and their use is a huge variable, even the use of Linen at all is debatable...

The only thing that is a "fact" is that the linen does remove something from the edge, that part is right there plain to see, other than that it is all opinion...