Thread: Linen?

Can anyone tell me what type of linen is used for strops? It's much thicker than anything I have seen for sale in fabric shops.

Thanks.

There's some clarification needed for the question.

Real Linen? like the old strops? or what now is often called linen, 'linen weave' and the like.

The old strops were real linen, of varying thicknesses, made from flax fiber.

The newer stuff is almost always cotton.

The flax fiber seems a bit more abrasive and effective imho. You might have access to a superb strop maker in your back yard - Neil Miller. He used to offer a linen only strop, but the linen maker is getting rather difficult to order from (monstrous min. order). Neil's linen is not thick like the old stuff, but has been a pleasure for the last 6 mo. or so that I've used it.

I've not had much luck resurrecting the thick vintage linen. 'Usually quite hard, and no amount of washing, ironing, etc has gotten it to flatten out adequately.

Thanks for the reply. What sort of thickness is the linen on one of Neil's strops?