Thread: To paste or not to paste, that is the question!

I'm really new to straight razor shaving. I just finished my first shave. Not BBS but I only lost about 3 drops of blood! I see a lot of talk about strops and pastes. Should I use just a plain strop, or do I need to past it. I have some Fromm dressing #364. Will this help, or dose it just soften the leather?

I think the general consensus is that paste should be reserved for a dedicated pasted strop, or whatever surface. The daily strop would be clean. Strop dressing does, IIRC, have some abrasive in it. It is not as abrasive as pure diamond paste or chrom-ox. I would only use paste on a spare piece of leather or fabric, balsa ...... whatever. As for the strop dressing. I would stick with the clean strop and maybe try the dressing on a spare piece, even an old belt will do. Once you apply a substance to the strop it is not easy to get it off.

Originally Posted by GunDoctor431

I'm really new to straight razor shaving. I just finished my first shave. Not BBS but I only lost about 3 drops of blood! I see a lot of talk about strops and pastes. Should I use just a plain strop, or do I need to past it. I have some Fromm dressing #364. Will this help, or dose it just soften the leather?

My only strop dressing is this: a few hours after I've last washed my face, I rub the palm of my hand over my forehead and nose, thus picking up the natural oils of the human body. Then I briskly rub my strop until it warms up. With a new strop, do this several times a day and it will quickly break in.