Thread: Help with linen coating

Richard Wikipedia has been where I have found most of my information going from link to link. Mrs stewards is still available on ebay new. My idea was to stick as close to original as it removes the factor that i have no clue where these ppeople obviously did. If making in micro batches it shouldn't take long and once I have a baseline I can modify from there. I already have a few razors awaiting my attentions so I can spend a while playing with this. Thank you for your time and knowledge here it has been a great guidance

It was a fun project and can have a lot of possibilities later. Enjoy the journey!
~Richard

Originally Posted by eddy79

Richard Wikipedia has been where I have found most of my information going from link to link. Mrs stewards is still available on ebay new. My idea was to stick as close to original as it removes the factor that i have no clue where these ppeople obviously did. If making in micro batches it shouldn't take long and once I have a baseline I can modify from there. I already have a few razors awaiting my attentions so I can spend a while playing with this. Thank you for your time and knowledge here it has been a great guidance

Seems all ball clay is not created equal. That in America and England are the finest and the stuff mined in Australia not so much. 1 lady told me today it is quite fine around 200 mesh (7 5 micron ). When I asked if it was likely if anyone imported it she said it was unlikely as we have local stuff and that she had never heard of anyone importing it and I think her website said she has been doing it 30 years. I think I will have to import directly from America to get a fine ball clay. Think that the postage for 5 pounds worth is really going to sting but there is no way I am going to use anything even remotely close to 200 mesh when the one from America is mostly below .5 micron from memory

Richard a little more of the puzzle today found by chance


Blue colorings have been added to rinse water for centuries, first in the form of powder blue or smalt, or using small lumps of indigo and starch, called stone blue. "

Seems that the current blueing and stone blue are different products entirely.

Yes, and the new bluing works well also and is a lot easier to duplicate.. Could be the little blue bits like broken of Hershey Bar of my youth were of that variety.
Keep on keepin' on!
~Richard
PS. You are trying to exactly duplicate a belt dressing made for military cross belts and gaiters of the 18th century. It was not specifically intended for razor strops.

The nice thing is that it, a similar not exact conglomeration, has worked for that usage for a few years for me; and it may be duplicated with modern supplies.

The main problem is nothing is easily accessible and it is going to be quite costly to amass everything even using modern equivalents. Atm I'm temped to just get true pure chalk from Kremer and use that and be done with it as it would be much easier and cost a fraction of the price. this strop would also be from a time period where chalk was likley and additive. Maybe a mix of newer ingredients and older techniques. I like some of the older base ingredients and may use them with chalk

If you haven't noticed I tend to research throughly before making decisions. Often a frustrating exercise

crushed and pounded soapstone was, it is said, a slightly abrasive ingredient also in some strop dressings.
~Richard

I think there are enough rabbit holes already in this project. Then depending on who you speak to depends on what they refer to as soapstone. The barber I know is about 70 and apprenticed under his dad also a barber and he refers to coticules as soapstones probably as he uses it with soap as his father taught him. At this stage maybe chalk, some wax substance and some flexible adhesive and something if it needed thinning would probably reasonably resemble what was on there