Thread: Baking Soda as a strop abrasive?

Originally Posted by shallard

Good day,

When I ordered my first straight razor, I also ordered 2 hanging strops and one stropping board (with leather surface) and a small tube of red Dovo paste. I have not used the red Dovo paste yet, but I was thinking of trying it this weekend with the spare stropping board.

Based on what I've read here, it seems that the red paste is considered fairly coarse, and perhaps not the best finishing option for a blade. I was thinking of other mild abrasives that I might be able to use after the red Dovo paste, and the thought of Baking Soda crossed my mind... I've read on one knife forum that it was described as a "very fine polishing or stropping compound" but how well would it work on a stainless steal straight razor (Dovo Inox)?

I know, I know, black Dovo or CrOx is probably a better option, but I'm still curious to know if anybody has ever tried baking soda on a strop, and how it worked out?

At the risk of getting side-tracked with two topics in the same thread, does anybody here use red Dovo only, then directly to regular cloth/leather for a shave?

Thanks in advance!

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If you are hell-bent on using some sort of abrasive on your strop, try rubbing just a little bit of chalk on your linen side like the old timey barbers did. However I would recommend zero treatment to either the linen side or the leather side until you have sufficient experience to understand the principles of stropping and you are getting shaves to die for. JMO

If you want to experiment with paste inexpensively, Craft Foam from Wally Mart or a craft store can be purchased for a dollar or two. Cut into 3 inch strips with a paper cutter or razor knife and straight edge and you get 3 strops for a buck.

2mm foam glued to a piece of wood or 4mm foam by itself works well.

Paint mineral Oil in 2-3 inch X’s on the foam, with your finger and sprinkle your powder on the oil, let dry overnight and strop away.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Snail mucous works well I have been told.Also pollen from elm trees.

So what your saying is if you want to know what an orange tastes like........eat an orange

Originally Posted by mike1011

So what your saying is if you want to know what an orange tastes like........eat an orange

Couldn't have put it better myself - bravo!

Never heard of baking soda as a strop additive or abrasive for honing, on either razors or knives.

What I have heard is that people add it to honing water - it changes the pH value and stops the knife/razor from rusting while it is being honed.

Chefs also use it to remove patina on knives and to give them a passive coating which protects against rust.

Regards,
Neil

Most everything has been tried at one time or another. Heck, way back in the Yahoo forum days one guy tried cocoa powder! He said it was extremely slow but helped the edge. So, pay attention to what has been said by the guys in this thread.
The proven performers have already been identified. Try to stick with those. If you experiment you will have fun and learn a bit, but you will also spend money and maybe ruin a few edges in the process. Been there, done that.

Also do a search for griffon strop aid. wolfpack posted his success with this and you can come across lead pretty easily to give it a try...

Thanks for all the replies and good info!

Yes, I agree that it's good to experiment and just go out and try new things, while exercising caution and using spare equipment, so as not to ruin the good gear. I had done some research about this before bringing it up to this forum, and had found info indicating it works on knives, and I had heard about using baking soda to clean and hone, but no info yet on stropping razors. I guess I was just hoping someone could give me some feedback if they had already tried it before.

Based on the comment about baking soda being 75-275 micron, and also the fact that this is my first and only straight razor and I'm still relatively knew at this art, I'll wait a bit before I start to experiment with "out of the box" ideas... As for the snail mucous, I don't think it has any abrasive properties, but I use it every day in my post-shave routine, and it does wonders for the skin

What about the red Dovo paste? Would anybody recommend going from the red paste, directly to the face, or should I really wait until I can find some CrOx or other 1-micron-or-less compound to finish the blade? I live in a small town, so I'd have to wait and order it online...

Thanks again for all the info and tips! Great forum, it's one of the main reasons I decided to take the plunge into the world of straights!

Originally Posted by shallard

What about the red Dovo paste? Would anybody recommend going from the red paste, directly to the face, or should I really wait until I can find some CrOx or other 1-micron-or-less compound to finish the blade? I live in a small town, so I'd have to wait and order it online...

I've honed a few razors for one of the local Dovo reps & he uses the red followed by the black paste on leather. I don't see him often so it must keep him going pretty well... or he's learnt how to hone .

Originally Posted by onimaru55

I've honed a few razors for one of the local Dovo reps & he uses the red followed by the black paste on leather. I don't see him often so it must keep him going pretty well... or he's learnt how to hone .

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My barber of record for the time period 1967 t0 1971 definitely treated his shop strop with a light application of black paste and recommended that I do the same when he sold me my first strop (DD No. 70). I keep a horse strop with black paste in the bathroom.