Just tried canvas strop for first time

A few years ago, when I bought the straights I shave with now, I purchased a set with shaving mug, brush, strop, etc. The strop I chose was leather only, no canvas, no linen. And I stropped for a long time with the leather only. I thought that was good enough. But recently my razors have become a little dull, and while looking at honing stones online, I decided to look into getting a new strop as well, one with the canvas or linen. And as I'm looking at some strops online this morning, I realize that sitting right beside me is a webbed canvas strop...or more accurately a webbed canvas carrying strap for a laptop case. I have taken the laptop and case with me on trips before, but never used the strap, until today.

I gave one of my razors, which I thought needed honing, the treatment. I thought, if I plan on honing it anyway, it can't do too much harm. That razor, which pulled hair the last time I used it, wiped hair away like it did when I first bought it! I had the smoothest shave I have had in a while!

I think I'm still getting a new strop anyway, but in the meantime I have a new use for this thing.

That's good thinking!
I use that kind of webbing occasionally, it came with my SRD strop, and it works pretty much as good as linen.IMO.
One less thing to carry when travelling :)

Looks like you "MacGyver'd" it very well :) (sorry to those who don't get that reference).

For me the linen/material is integral to a nice sharp edge and extends blade life between touch ups. Glad to hear we have another believer.

Is it actually canvas? I would have thought it would be nylon. Saying that, does nylon make a good alternative to canvas?

Whoops! It actually is nylon! I can't believe I made that mistake...sorry, guys! But with that said, it DID make a huge improvement in really dull razors, so it can't be all bad. Without testing it on already shave-ready razors on a regular basis, I couldn't say whether or not it's a good alternative to canvas, though. (Especially with my lack of experience with an actual canvas strop.) It might not be as good, or it might not last as long. Soon I'll be getting a new strop (with actual canvas this time). So maybe a long term experiment is in order?

I imagine that it is about the same thing as a poly-web strop. If that's the case, it will work just fine.

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Originally Posted by DevilBlade

A few years ago, when I bought the straights I shave with now, I purchased a set with shaving mug, brush, strop, etc. The strop I chose was leather only, no canvas, no linen. And I stropped for a long time with the leather only. I thought that was good enough. But recently my razors have become a little dull, and while looking at honing stones online, I decided to look into getting a new strop as well, one with the canvas or linen. And as I'm looking at some strops online this morning, I realize that sitting right beside me is a webbed canvas strop...or more accurately a webbed canvas carrying strap for a laptop case. I have taken the laptop and case with me on trips before, but never used the strap, until today.

I gave one of my razors, which I thought needed honing, the treatment. I thought, if I plan on honing it anyway, it can't do too much harm. That razor, which pulled hair the last time I used it, wiped hair away like it did when I first bought it! I had the smoothest shave I have had in a while!

I think I'm still getting a new strop anyway, but in the meantime I have a new use for this thing.

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If you stay with this hobby long enough, you will find yourself stropping on many different materials besides leather.
There is canvas, similar to fire hose. This comes in different weaves. I have SRD strops with polyester, nylon and the felt strop comes with
thin fabric like linen (cotton?) with a fine herringbone weave to it.

My Heirloom strop has a fine cotton fabric as do 2 other strops in my collection. Also a thick horsebutt strop with Linen back. Then there is the Hess Hair Milk strop which is a coated fabric unlike anyother I have seen. Being a retired calligrapher, I have some interesting artist's paper left over with varying textures on which I have stropped with success. Then there is newspaper (with or without a graphite treatment) which is popular with some members here. Not to mention bluejean material and several other fabrics.

We are limited only by our imaginations.

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Originally Posted by mrsell63

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If you stay with this hobby long enough, you will find yourself stropping on many different materials besides leather.
There is canvas, similar to fire hose. This comes in different weaves. I have SRD strops with polyester, nylon and the felt strop comes with
thin fabric like linen (cotton?) with a fine herringbone weave to it.

My Heirloom strop has a fine cotton fabric as do 2 other strops in my collection. Also a thick horsebutt strop with Linen back. Then there is the Hess Hair Milk strop which is a coated fabric unlike anyother I have seen. Being a retired calligrapher, I have some interesting artist's paper left over with varying textures on which I have stropped with success. Then there is newspaper (with or without a graphite treatment) which is popular with some members here. Not to mention bluejean material and several other fabrics.

We are limited only by our imaginations.

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+1

I'm about to make myself a strop out of pure silk, just as an experiment.

Recently I've had a similar experience with my old canvas strop.
I've found the "broken in" cotton ones worked very well on my blades.

I just picked up some 2" wide nylon webing from the local climbing shop. Just need some d rings from Ace and I'll be in business. I'm also trying to figure out how to repurpose some denim from old jeans to a strop as well.

Go to a junkyard and get a seatbelt. They work great and most are a fairly fine weave.

If making a linen strop substitute test the material first. Some plastics can abrade steel much more than canvas or linen.

Before I purchased a vintage strop that has both heavy linen and leather, I fashioned a denim strop out of an old pair of blue jeans. I wanted to use the inside material to strop on so I folded the material in half with the blue on the outside, then used a sewing machine to go up the cut side, then turned it inside out. I used some D-rings from a Ranch and Home type store and folded the ends over them, then sewed it shut! Nothing really fancy or pretty!

Worked OK! I found that it did help achieve a higher level of sharpness. With that said, the vintage strop does a better job!

Good luck! Smooth Shaving!