Thread: difference between fabric strops?

Hi folks!
I only have one fabric strop (rough fabric on the latigo strop from SRD). This works pretty well for me, as is, and I never use any paste or spray on it. Do other strops give a different feel? particularly when used without anything else (i.e. no diamond or chromium oxide). I have never tried wool fro instance. Do you guys have a preference?

Originally Posted by trondsi

Hi folks!
I only have one fabric strop (rough fabric on the latigo strop from SRD). This works pretty well for me, as is, and I never use any paste or spray on it. Do other strops give a different feel? particularly when used without anything else (i.e. no diamond or chromium oxide). I have never tried wool fro instance. Do you guys have a preference?

170+ views without a reply, so let me be the first.

These days, I'm a big fan of the dedicated Solingen linen strop, one side pasted with the Solingen red paste and the other with Solingen white paste. Pasting this one is almost required as it will start to fray and pill otherwise. Feel is nothing to write home about: it feels a bit like scrubbing. And the lap count is reduced accordingly, maybe 8 laps on the red paste and 15 on the white paste. Only to be used for touch-ups.

Vintage barber's firehose pieces vary from piece to piece from my experience. Some can be very soft and tight-woven, and these I prefer, whereas others can be more coarsely woven rending a fairly aggressive sound and feel. The latter, I do not like so much. Only to be used for touch-ups.

There is a thin American cotton variety that's out there (it came with strops made by Walkin' Horse a few years back) that is really nice lined with the white paste, which provides a starch-like effect. It is fairly tight woven, herringbone-style. Feel there is great. Can be used more routinely.

All of these should be pulled reasonably taut from my experience, whereas leather for daily use can be used with a little bit of slack.

Tony Miller has a fine weave cotton fabric strop which is the best of my three...yeah even better than the flax linen

Yes, they do “Feel” different, but linen depends on what you want to achieve.

If you just want to clean the razor before finishing on leather, it does not matter much.

If you want to add a bit of keenness or touch up an edge, Flax linen can make a dramatic difference depending on the strop, Firehose is the most aggressive I have tried, and I have tried a few.

Stiff linen can be washed to soften and flatten. A well washed vintage Kanayama is the best feeling and polishing I have tried.

Fine weave nylon (seat belt type) is smooth and polishes well, also pastes well.

I have used almost every secondary component I can find. In order of what feels the nicest and still is quite effective, Scrupple Works linen, suede, herringbone hemp, fine cotton weave, vintage linen or fire hose linen, wool felt, coarse cotton weave, nylon webbing. I have a Westholme strop enroute and expect the linen to be the same as the Scrupple Works linen. It is very soft, and the blade passes over it without that zippy sound. The zippy sound just kills me. I have a piece of black iron pipe in my workshop that I use to break in new fabric strops if they are either too zippy or too coarse. It has worked well with the hemp, and it made my hemp strop a delight to use. It is of no value to try it on nylon, it is destined to be way too zippy even if you try to break it in. The suede, the Scrupple Works linen and the cotton did not require any work, they did their job without zip right off the bat, oh and the felt too. Felt is kind of an odd stropping fabric. It is smooth and not zippy, but it is not my favourite feel. Felt is however my go too for cerium oxide and chromium oxide paddle strops, I think that is its best use.