Thread: Help with linen coating

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Thanks for the extra info and pictures. I did not know that this Shamrock Brand was a linen strop - I have not seen one photo of the mark with with anything but "Shamrock Brand Fine Weave Silk Finish on it, though I suppose that barbers manuals of the time would serve to identify what Dubl Duck called it.





The following, along with some of the cotton backed strops I have seen (cannot find a pic) are marked with what they are:



Dubl Duck were importers by the way and it is possible that they made nothing at all. But their products were excellent indeed.

What seems clear from this is that we do not have a tubular weave cotton firehose.

The Shamrock brand on the other hand was a firmly established business in Ireland (hence 'shamrock') and they describe this material in one advert as marked and available in 10ft lengths to the public, describing it as 'bleached linen cambric', cambric deriving from the french town where it was originally made in the 1700s. At that time it was made from linen, calendered and glazed, though later on both linen and cotton materials were described as cambric.

Thanks again for correcting me - just goes to show that you learn something everyday and what a fine resource SRP is.

Regards,
Neil

Neil it doesn't state that it is linen but it is exactly the same as a Irish linen that I have except that the Irish linen isn't coated and is white by itself. I assumed and may be wrong that from the colour it was a flax linen that has been coated and impregnated with this dressing and that the dressing itself is what they may be referrinding to as the silk finish. As I said I could be wrong but once the coating of paste is removed it comes up that greeny colour and the weave is revealed