Thread: What makes a good strop?

I am an obvious beginner. I am also baffled by this piece of equipment.

I understand the concept and importance of stropping, but I am ignorant as to why one leather strop, identical in appearance, is better than the other.

Is it the type of leather, how it is treated or are there certain grades of quality?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Take care,
Jason

Several variables to be sure, maybe as many as there are opinions. One of the most prominent is the "stropper". Read thru the threads related to strops and stropping, its surprising how many different materials yield effective results.

"""Is it the type of leather, how it is treated or are there certain grades of quality?"""

Yep and craftsmanship, along with width, length, hanging, paddle,or loom. Hardware and configuration, like 2 strips of leather 1 linen, cotton,or some other material to clean,and sharpen the blade before you hit the clean leather. Shall we get into draw ? For me smooth is the key for finish stropping and so I like horse shell. I use the old time linen before that and both are on a paddle. Actually just a chunk of wood and not even fastened down. It's one of those " old habits are hard to break" things with me. Something I think most of us continually do is try to make that edge the best it can be. For at least the first year you won't notice a difference on your face unless 1 certain strop helps your technique or confidence. Do you notice the difference now between when you need to strop your blade and when it has been done ? The differences get more subtle as you go but I would say they are there to notice. And some blades like (or their owners do ) a certain type of strop more than others. It's another thing to learn as you go because you have to be able to feel the differences they make and have the skill to properly use each one.

Strop width, type of leather, tanning and finish determine cost.

Really, like most things it is personal preference and experience, “better” is a relative term.
For most, it really does not matter as skill is more important than how the leather was tanned or the look of the strop.

Those that can tell the difference between high quality strops can get better results with lesser equipment.

Any clean, smooth, decent quality 30-40 dollar strop can produce quality results. Your face is the judge.

I think it has been said, but basically flat and smooth are minimum requirements. My strop is a homemade roo leather job, really not terribly pretty but it does a nice job. I would say that if you want advice on what would be a good starter strop, let us know a rough budget.
It is well worth considering a reasonably good strop that has the facility to change over the stropping surface, so that if you do damage the surface you can buy a replacement and just reattach the hardware, replacement leather for a nice strop isn't really much different in price to a full cheap strop, we'll it doesn't have to be anyway and you can check all of the prices prior to purchase.
Now you get to hanging or paddle or loom. Paddle strops are supposed to be a bit easier to use. Though as I have never owned one I can't really say, they also have a small advantage in that you can use them anywhere. I don't really know anything about loom strops except that they exist.
Draw is basically how much resistance the strop gives, based on the two I have I prefer a lighter draw.
Hanging strops are probably the most common, i haven't had any real trouble getting to grips with using mine.
Then we have width, anything from 2 to 3 inches wide are pretty standard, personally I prefer my 3 inch, but i have been using it for a year, I have a 2.5 inch that was given to me recently that I use a bit but being a creature of habit I prefer what I am used to.

I would like to buy a paddle strop but it seems a bit pricey for a beginner. I; however, may buy one depending on whether the materials used are replaceable or perhaps interchangeable.

Can you replace the leather or other materials on a paddle strop?

I am aware you can do this on a hanging strop.

Thank you for all the advice and links.

I would have never guessed these items could command such high prices.

Take care,
Jason

I've often wondered the same thing. Is it just a matter of taking any suitable piece of leather and cutting to shape? Or is there more to the process? Tanning, treating, preparation? If you look through old barber supply manuals, that catered to the profession, you might get the idea that there was something special about strops like Koken's Royal "Broke-in" line of razor strops. I have an old 1940's/ 50's Dubl Duck Scotch Shell "Pearlduck" strop that claims its "Scientifically treated razor strops are justly famous for their quality and durability. Ask any BARBER who owns one." All hype and marketing? Or did the old manufacturers of strops know something we don't? I use a current production IRS Co. (Illinois Razor Strop Co./ Fromm Int'l) #361 professional model razor strop that I'm very happy with. I thought it was a bit stiff and rough on the surface so put in some work to prepare the strop, that after doing a bit of research on old barber techniques for breaking in strops, and have been using this strop for about 6-7 years now and think it functions quite well. But could I have done the same with any piece of leather? I don't know. IRS Co. has been making strops since 1906 and I have no idea if they use any special "scientific" process during manufacture. But I do have reason to suspect that IRS Co. was the actual manufacturer of the Dubl Duck strops. Maybe with the decline of the barbershop shave, and therefore a decreased demand for high quality barber shave equipment after WWII, manufacturers gradually began putting less into their strops releasing only mediocre strops for those who maybe didn't really care, or just didn't know the difference, between a really good strop and one that just got the job done. I've scoured the patents web sites for processes and formula regarding razor strop production and have seen some very interesting ideas for prepping strops such as rubbing potentially toxic substances, like lead, on the surface of the strop. Not something I'd think a commercial strop manufacturer would do, but I could be wrong. The only other mainstream commercial manufacturers of strops that I'm aware of are Dovo and Thiers Issard maybe a few others. All the rest seem to be semi-homemade, cottage industry types. I've used none of them so can't speak to their quality or effectiveness. And I don't know if any of those manufacturers have rediscovered any special long lost strop making processes, or not. Maybe they have, or maybe there is no special process, other than just good leather making. For now I'm just happy with my #361.

SRD make a modular paddle strop, i think its about $100 for the base mode,. with extra pads available for a small outlay

A large part of it is finding something you like (in terms of types of hide, how much draw, how long, how wide, how thick, etc). After that, it's just a matter of getting good clear leather and learning to use it.

I don't care too much about the super tidy details that make a bespoke type strop such a thin (all of the things that make it look nice), but understand if other people do.

There's a second thing that comes to mind, and that is that the linen on the strop needs to complement the strop, it needs to maintain a razor by stretching the time you go back to the stones without sacrificing hardness, and it needs to do little to wear an edge (otherwise, why skip going back to the stones since the wear from using stones comes without sacrificing geometry). The other thing the linen has to do is step up the edge that comes off of poor stones and make it a bit keener and smoother.

Originally most of the strop makers were outfits that specialized in making leather drive belts which were used extensively in the old days. Then some outfits came along specializing in strops but it's still the type of thing that was pretty specialized and there were a handful of outfits making most of the strops you see on Eboy these days. Even in these modern times I imagine most of the strops are still made by a handful of outfits. I would be surprised if TI makes their own strops.

If you have a quality piece of leather free from all defects and nice and smooth you probably have a great candidate for strop leather. More money does not buy you more performance. It simply becomes a luxury item and you know how that goes.