Thread: Is linen neccessary + The difference between linen and cotton

Originally Posted by gssixgun

There are traces of rust and corrosion left on the fabric

Due to the fact that the material is abrasive some metal must be getting deposited in the fibres of the strop. Is it possible that this rust/corrosion was never on the razor and is purely a result of the trapped metal particles becoming oxidized.

Makes no difference, but it was the first thing that popped into my head when I read your post.

P.S. If this is the case, then the leather strop components may also suffer this but their colour makes it harder to spot

Yes and No...

Yes they do go from hones to that strop but they go to other places first, if that was from the honing process it should be if anything, Green from the CrOx...

But this is by no means my first Illinois strop all of them do this whether the razor has touched a hone or not... I used to only use a #827 as an everyday strop and it was actually worse then this one... I have a Craftsman that is rarely used and you can see minute traces of something on it too....

I don't think the honing swarf could account for this, not a bad idea though...

Now I could be convinced that it is perhaps because of the time between my personal razors use???? I don't think this would happen if you were using a razor every other day, I don't know though...

I will just say that a simple experiment shows the value of a linen, or cotton, strop. I have done the following with both types; from the hone, test HHT. Does not pass but shaves the ends of arm hairs easily (well honed)...go to linen 50 strokes. The razor usually passes HHT then. IMO the cotton or linen actually sharpens. Evidence-darkening of the fabric indicating metal removal, and demonstrable HHT that did not previously exist. Then, finish with 50 passes on leather, and you are shave ready! I also work in a CroOX treated paddle strop monthly on my rotation, keeps the shave smooth. For what it's worth. This result is easily reproducible, assuming you have a linen or cotton strop. Try it out!

Originally Posted by TartanJim

Due to the fact that the material is abrasive some metal must be getting deposited in the fibres of the strop. Is it possible that this rust/corrosion was never on the razor and is purely a result of the trapped metal particles becoming oxidized.

Makes no difference, but it was the first thing that popped into my head when I read your post.

P.S. If this is the case, then the leather strop components may also suffer this but their colour makes it harder to spot

The abrasiveness must certainly play a part - but almost anything rubbbed on anything else enough times will leave a deposit - if it is a deposit that is prone to further oxidation then unsurprisingly the deposit will be more visible.

Cotton and linen are a vitual mesh to trap particles in. Doing some hard work for a day in a close-fitting white collar will tell you that. There must have been a good reason why back in the good old days they made interchangable collars and cuffs for shirts!

I suspect if you used the most pristine source imaginable and rubbed a piece of linen 30 laps a day on the inner thigh of a young virgin it would show some evidence of the act.

In the world that we can see and touch things like shiny razors seem to be made of one homogeneous whole, but in the microscopic world of elements, particles and molecules there is a lot of debris on the surface of almost everything just waiting to be dislodged. To some extent to see evidence of this only in strops means we are looking through blinkers - the blinkers of the straight-razor community.

Some old barber manuals mention the very fact that you have alluded to, TartanJim - that strops become clogged with metal particles and need to be cleaned periodically. But then again, some old barber manuals mention the most outrageous things!

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Croaker

I will just say that a simple experiment shows the value of a linen, or cotton, strop. I have done the following with both types; from the hone, test HHT. Does not pass but shaves the ends of arm hairs easily (well honed)...go to linen 50 strokes. The razor usually passes HHT then. IMO the cotton or linen actually sharpens. Evidence-darkening of the fabric indicating metal removal, and demonstrable HHT that did not previously exist. Then, finish with 50 passes on leather, and you are shave ready! I also work in a CroOX treated paddle strop monthly on my rotation, keeps the shave smooth. For what it's worth. This result is easily reproducible, assuming you have a linen or cotton strop. Try it out!

i have performed both test and linen gave me much better hht than cotton. Time and time again the linen dramaticly improves hht of the hone. thats why i'd never part with my linen.

Hello everyone, I'm new and just registered. I'm glad I found this site because I've been using a straight razor for over 30 years now and wasn't sure about the linen side. I originally was looking for the differents between linen and cotton and that's how I come to be on this site.

I strop before every shave and after cleaning the razor. But I learned a few things from an experienced straight razor shaver, and that was, use a good quality razor (Germans make good cold steel blades $100.00). He told me to get a nice smooth stone, (looks like slat) and stroping paste. I don't really use the stone often, it's just incase you get it out of shape. But what I check for after i'm finish stroping my razor, is, does it cut hair? and how I do that is; I pull out a hair from my head an hold it (not like you see in a carton, where you alway see them splitting a hair.) you hair between for-fingre & thumb, and holding your razor at 45 degrees, put the blade up against the hair. You don't have to make any cutting action, just touch the hair, if it cuts clean through and the hair falls away, then the blade is razor sharp. I it breaks the hair and it just fall over and stays attach, you have to strap some more.

I hope my info about sharpening your razor helps someone.

Bob