Thread: Is all flax linen created equal

The problem with using linen fabric is it unravels when cut, and if you sew it or glue it, you have to deal with the seam. For stropping you want it flat.

There are sources that sell flax webbing, though hard to find and you may have to buy more than you need.

For a strop it does not need to be thick or stiff.

The best source for Linen for strops is vintage strops, you can often buy them cheap with a trashed leather strop. The linen is often pristine but dirty, that can be washed rolled and Ironed to like new condition. I like the linen from old Knakayama strops.

The vintage material was specifically for strops which of course is why it works so well. The modern stuff is made for other uses so you be trying to McGyver it into something it's not meant to be.

You can find Linen on Amazon meant for bread baking purposes and it's thick stuff but the texture or weave isn't made for strops. Maybe that stuff sewn with a stiffener and another backing might do the trick.

I have five vintage strops with linen and only the red imp 700c and c-mon look similar but all feel different. I have a vintage firehose strop that a 44/20 had and that is unique feel to. Hope this helps.

I have only found two current sources for flax linen, Europe and India. Most of the pics I have seen of the current flax linen strops look pretty similar and it looks like the European stuff I have found. I have not handled the stuff from India but it does look different than the European. Pretty sure the USA mills have stopped running it a few years ago.

I agree that firehose feels much different, more coarse and louder but does have a unique feel many like. Not sure if it the texture or the heft of it but it does have a certain quality to it that thinner webbing does not have.

Some guys strop holding both cloth and leather together, other holding just one component. Two together helps make up for the give in the thinner webbing style linen.

Of course the word linen has become so generic one can not always be sure just what the actual fiber being used is as everyone seems to be calling it linen now.