Thread: Newbie strop/paste explanation

There are a number of different substrate surfaces used to make bench or paddle strops including, balsa, hard felt, cotton/linen, and rough/smooth finished leather.

There is almost universal agreement that the unpasted leather strop is needed after every shave to maintain a shave ready edge. Good stropping is critical because a good shave is not possible without a shave ready edge.

There is widespread, but not universal agreement, that unpasted cotton/linen should be used before unpasted leather. Unpasted strops clean, polish, and straighten the delicate edge. They have a very mild abrasive effect.

Pasted strops are a more abrasive surface which can be used when unpasted strops alone are no longer effective. A few passes on a pasted strop will usually restore unpasted strop effectiveness.

Some prefer using very fine grit synthetic ( 8K +) or natural stones for touching up close to shave ready edges rather than use pasted strops. Pastes are available in various grit sizes and degrees of aggresiveness which affects not only sharpness but also perceived harshness of the edge on skin.

If pasted strops cannot restore and edge to shave readiness, a trip to the stones for rehoning is needed.

Unless damaged, a shave ready edge usually can be maintained for a long time using only pasted and unpasted strops.

Hanging strops may be the most popular unpasted razor strop in the US. A hanging strop can act as a bench strop by being laid flat on a counter top edge for greater control while stropping. With good control and taughtness, a hanging strop will flex and twist to maintain an even pressure along the length of the blade. The user must keep the blade evenly positioned on the rigid bench and paddle strops. The loom strop mimics the properly tensioned hanging strop by having some ability to twist and flex under blade pressure (blade weight).