Thread: Strop Emergency

Jimbo's right. Newspaper works, as long as your razor is speck.

If I were travelling, I would make a small 12inch x 2 inch paddle strop with leather both sides. .5 diamond spray on one side and plain leather on the other side. That would fit in any suitcase. Newspaper or a page from the phone book is good also.

CrOx is messy for travelling. CeOx is better...............

+1 on newspaper, that works well.

The other thing you could try if you want to get a bit more involved is get a piece of denim, rub it with some chalk to load it, then give it a quick spray with some spray starch to make the chalk stick. Instant pasted chalk strop..! You could even do this with some jeans because the chalk/starch mixture washes off.

Stubear

I like your chalk idea and also, I use denim for my CeOx. Denim seems to work well with just about any treatment...............

I will give that chalk and spray starch a try. Thanks.............

Originally Posted by Jimbo

I'd get some green paint and a piece of balsa from the local hardware store.

James.

+1 And if there's a local potter there they use CrO & rouge as glazes.

Find a local hardware store and get a paint stir stick, the 5 gallon sticks are best as they are wider and longer. Get some Maas or any polish, Semi Chrome, Flint or car polishing compound. With your finger draw on X’s every 2 inches, let it dry, then strop.

Buff on a 24 inch piece of 2 inch nylon strapping from any linen store or army surplus. Should cost around a buck.

If you do find some Maas you may like it better than CrOx.

I have used stir stick for experimentation for some time now with great results, and you can’t beat the cost. The silk screening on the stick does not seem to affect the results.

Or just put the polish X’s on the nylon webbing. Use another clean one for buffing. What ever you do, let it dry for a couple of hours before stropping.

I like the stick best, as it is less likely to round your edge.

Enjoy.


Marty

My vote for down and dirty would be Toothpaste on denim. Cheap, you've probably already got both, and toothpaste is supposed to be great for polishing an edge.

There are some very good expedient answers here, here may be another, go antiquing for a barber hone and keep it in your shave kit, I never go anywhere with out mine.

Originally Posted by raneyday

Will the newspaper thing really work?

Hi David,
Yes the newspaper really works. Some folks have found that stropping on newspaper can replace the use of a CrOx strop during the honing process. That thread is where I learned about it.

I had a situation similar to yours. I was home but did not have a CrOx strop. This is what you do: Take a section of newspaper, perhaps four to six sheets and leave it folded up. Place it flat on the edge of a table and strop about 100 strokes (in each direction). That recovered my edge nicely so I only needed my canvass/leather strop after that.

Some have found that folding the sheets of newspaper up in the shape of a strop works also. Good luck. I also would not want to purchase a disposable razor.
Namaste,
Morty -_-

++1 on the news print. Get one with lots of color illustrations.