Thread: Linen or poly webbing...

Gentlemen,
These days I use only leather. When I did use the second component on my strop, genuine linen was my first choice. I not only liked the feel and the sound of stropping on it, but also its toned abrasiveness. Oh, as for poly webbing, I don't like it, because, among other things, it just doesn't feel right.

Linen for me. I've used poly and felt, but just prefer the linen. If it was good enough for barbers for over 100 years it is good enough for me.

Originally Posted by TomP30

Interesting to see there are no advocates so far for poly webbing.

I won an SRD Roo strop at the North Texas Meet last February. It has a poly secondary. I was all set to hate it, as I was very happy with the hemp secondary that I was using. I decided to keep an open mind and give it a fair shot. Turns out I am very happy with the results from the poly strop and have been using it since February.

What they are like "New vs Broken in" are night and day

Much like a Boar Brush needs to be well used before the best performance comes out I find the same to be true of the secondary strop material..


I don't really have a "Best" I like them all once they are broken in an no longer are so "Zippy"

Which do you prefer and why?

It is a good question, it depends on what you are trying to achieve.

I believe that traditionally linen strops, real flax linen was use, because it is naturally abrasive and readily available. The linen was meant to clean the razor of soap, hair, skin and dirt. And to impart some keenness, from the mildly abrasive flax, before putting the razor on clean leather.

Take a good look at your razor before you strop it. Even if you repeatedly rinsed it and wipe with a towel or micro fiber or paper towel, you will find all sorts of dried soap, hair, blood, skin and dirt on the bevel.

Shaving conditions were probably nothing like we have today. Modern Nylon and Polyester weaves work very well for cleaning the razor and for pasting, as they hold paste well.

Additionally, for the new stropper, nylon strops are difficult to cut and make great learning strops.

Vintage linen, once cleaned and stretched or pressed are a joy to use, some can be fairly aggressive. I do not see any advantage to a stiff linen strop and wonder how that process, came to be. Most all will benefit from a good soaking and cleaning.

In today's industry who makes your favourite strops?

Tom, re the Linen v polyweb, I honestly believe that when advertised, true 'Linen', they are in fact cotton. So I have a Classic Shaving strop that says it's backing is cotton. It has a lovely feel, and that zing spoken of earlier in the thread is muffled compared to others. Now the second question, is related to the 1st. My favourite strop these days is the Kanayama #70000, 3 piece strop. There is plenty of reading available on this forum about Kanayama's. They are the best I've used, and are the staple, for most experienced honers out there. The are a shell cordovan horse leather, and are completely unique to any other strops I've used. They have 2 secondary pieces, one is just leather with one side sanded down to make it a very velvety suede piece. It is 68mm wide, the same width as the Cordovan stropping surface, and in itself, when stropping the cordovan, you can use the stiffer more robust suede piece to hold along with the Cordovan, makes it easier. Third piece is a 65mm canvas piece. Canvas is cotton, and if this strop has a flaw it is the stiffness and lack of malleability, sees it required to be put in the washing machine for a couple of cycles, and maybe more, so stiff is it. Once you have softened this canvas piece it is an excellent canvas piece, and the blade glides nicely over it. Be aware though, that Cordovan/shell, horse butt leathers are over double the price of a steerhide strop.(Cheapest #70000 at the moment is $235USD) Worth it to me. But if inexperienced, use a steerhide 3 inch strop, around $60 and once you have gotten the full hang of stropping, maybe then get the cordovan. (It would cause some horror if on it's 1st outing you chop a big piece out of it!) As I said, check out the 'Strops' forum and there is plenty on high end strops.
Bob

I am a newbie to this forum thing but I have made a living keeping cutting tools sharp for the past 45 years and have used a strop or two, including on my straight razors. I have also been married long enough to know I am usually wrong about anything I think I know... That being said my opinion is as follows:

For a sharp blade I prefer a cotton strop with a gentle pull before touching it up on my leather strop;
For a blade that has just gone through a thorough refresh I use a cotton strop with a good deal of compound worked in it then go to an aggressive linen then a long session on the leather:
For a blade that is starting to pull some but I am too lazy to sit down and refresh it I will hit it a right good lick (or 20) on the linen then the leather.

works for my carving tools as well as my razors but I'd like to learn more about all this....

I forgot to mention I threw the plastic thing on the back of the last strop I bought into the trash, was I supposed to use that?

As a former textile engineer, you need to qualify the weave of the fabric. The quality of the linen also will effect the results. I have seen Irish and English linen that was smooth as silk. When I was in Ireland, I saw a barber stropping his razor on his linen shirt. Couple the weave of the linen with adding say Chromium Oxide paste and you can get amazing results. I use the Mastro Livi loom strop with linen treated with chromium oxide and it gives an amazing edge. You might also like to look into denim.

“I forgot to mention I threw the plastic thing on the back of the last strop I bought into the trash, was I supposed to use that?”


Depends on what it was and who made your strop.

Some linen are coated and need to be washed and stretched prior to use.

Sounds like you have a working system, though. What are you using for Compound?

Canvas makes a better strop than denim, that unravels easily, though it does produce a nice finish, as will most cloth.