Thread: I

I tool a look around and didn't find an answer on this question. I have a strop from Whipped Dog, a poor man's strop. I keep reading about a linen strop. Is this necessary? If so, can denim be used as a substitute?

Thank in advance, from a newbie.

Chris

No, you can just strop on leather and get good result.

Yes, denim can be used instead of linen. There are many tutorials on the site for making your own, including the preferred style of denim to use.

Originally Posted by dinnermint

No, you can just strop on leather and get good result.

Yes, denim can be used instead of linen. There are many tutorials on the site for making your own, including the preferred style of denim to use.

Thanks for the response. I have plenty of old jeans, being rather frugal. I will search for more information on how to use them for stropping. Until then, I will continue with just the leather strop.

The purpose of a “Linen” strop is 1. To clean the blade of soap, beard hair, skin, blood and oxidation / rust, so that all that does not end up on your leather strop. 2. To polish the bevel and edge, and 3. Depending on the composition of the linen, to add keenness to the edge. Some fabric linen (flax) is abrasive and is used effectively as a strop.

The goal of stropping on leather is to provide a final polish on the bevel and edge, to re-align the edge and microscopically add a bit of keenness to the edge, before it touches your face.

So, if you want to provide the best polish to the edge, your leather should be free of contaminates, especially rust which is abrasive.

You can use denim, but it frays easily when cut , if you fold it or sew it, you have to deal with the seam.

You can use a cotton, nylon or polyester strapping or a clean belt as an inexpensive linen or use canvas, it will not unravel when cut. Or purchase a linen strop. You can buy a yard of 2-inch strapping for a couple dollars from a fabric store.

I find linen to be important. Do you really need it? Probably not, if you don't have one. But it will help you and your blades to stay cutting much longer. As Marty explained, its the cleaning of the edge that it does and that keeps the bad stuff off your leather. Poly strapping is cheap if you don't want to buy something already made.

Almost any fabric can be used for stropping as long as the weave is uniform. I would not want to use a fabric with a raised pattern like Jacquard or Brocade. Often fabric used for commercial strops is woven on a special loom using a circular weave so there are no edges to unravel. That is why linen fire hose as been a popular material for strops.

When you use flat woven fabric, you have to do something to prevent unravelling of the edges One way I have done this is to glue the fabric to some type of backing material. For a paddle or bench strop, the backing material may be wood, glass, or plastic. For a hanging strop, you can use iron-on backing fabric such as one made by Pellon . Although the backing may not completely prevent unravelling, it will prolong the life of the strop. After a while, you might still need to make a new one, but they are cheap.

Denim can be used, but there are many alternatives. I purchased a pair of cotton sail cloth curtains from Walmart for $13. That is enough material to make about two dozen strops. You can also purchase a yard of flax linen from fabric stores. Some people recommend using Professional Baker's Flax Linen Proofing Cloth that is available on Amazon.

I know that Razor Emporium sells parts you can use to build your own strop. I made a nice Russet horsehide and canvas strop this way. Their 3" wide x 20" long canvas material is only $5.00, but you will need other parts to complete a hanging strop.

Chris

You can use a folded Newspaper if you want, it works awesome


I use it alone as a Travel strop and it works a treat as a substitute for linen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NmNZfQg_Vs&t=9s

I can share what I have seen using a metallurgical scope.
When I come off the hones and for some reason the edge has small tiny false edge, not the whole edge just a small segment, or at 1000x I see teeth on the edge then comparing leather vs linen you can clearly see the difference.
Leather will take care of tiny teeth but an aggressive linen will actually fix small false edges. It has quite the impact on the edge.
Adding to the drying and cleaning action of linen, I always do few passes on linen after each shave.

I appreciate all the detailed comments. I clearly have more to learn about SRs than I realized.

With the information given you should be well on your way.