Denim Only?

Hello all,

I'm a complete novice to straight razor shaving, and in fact I have not even bought one yet. I have been wet shaving for almost 40 years though.

I'm trying to determine if straight razor shaving is for me and quite honestly, I don't have the budget for both a razor and decent leather strop. I'm on the lookout for a razor on the classified section here.

I'd like to get some opinions on whether the more experienced shavers here think that I can get along with one plain and one pasted denim strop, which I would make myself. I have all the materials at hand and i would be happy it the strops did a good job, even if I had to replace them every couple of months

What are the chances you could spend 20 bucks on a foot of 8/9 ounce vegetable tanned leather? And that you have something in your household that could cut it? A sq foot that's oblong would make you two nice long strops, and a square foot that's square would make 4 12 inches long. I've found the leather that people sell as scrap cowhide (at least that i've received) to be very good quality.

Are you close to anyone who uses a lot of leather or a tandy store? Have not used denim, but I suspect it won't be as good as a good smooth even leather. There should be somewhere around you if you're close to any kind of population that would have vegetable tanned leather offcuts.

The guy at star shaving makes strops (no relation to the guy or even a clue who he is) and they are good quality for the price. I think he's got some strops for the $25-$30 range that look a lot better than some of the tiny things that are offered on ebay. I've been using one of his 3" strops and found it to be awfully good for the price, even if it's no monster super-thick strop like some of the premium strops you see on here (i.e., I can get a razor very sharp with it).

A lot of food for thought there Dave and i will definitely check out all the options you mentioned.

I would still like to hear what someone that has used denim has to say though, just to satisfy my curiosity :)

What is your budget for both combined?

Kaivorth,

I don't really have a set budget in mind, but I figured if I can find a decent starter razor for $40-$50 and make my own strop, I would not be shedding too many tears if I found that straight razor shaving was not for me.

For the time being, I'm more concerned about getting decent quality steel in a razor and something that will keep it in shave ready condition than something fancy.

i used denim when i first started out. It works okay, but don't use it as a finisher. If you've got a nice flat 2x4 or something similar (basically something that is about the size of a strop) you can put newspaper on it and strop with that and it'll give you a great edge. it takes a little more effort than an actual strop but it totally works. Just use like three or four sheets, cut them so that they'll hang off the end a little and then tape or staple or paste the ends to the backside of the board like you would a sanding block.

Serious?

Newspaper? Who knew?

That might just be the thing to get me started till I can find a piece of leather or buy a decent strop.

yeah i can't remember where it was but there was a thread that talked about this. Someone was saying that the ink particles from the newspaper even acted like a compound like cro ox but finer particles.

Well, as it turns out I stumbled upon a leather place today and weaseled my way in. I ended up with one of their off cuts of bridle leather that's enough to make 2 hanging and 1 paddle strop. The best part was, I only parted with a $20 bill for it :)

Now all I have to do is find my first razor and I'm ready to go.

Thanks to everyone for the replies and advice.

As for the razor (sorry off topic) check out the classifieds you should easily be able to find a good quailty razor for 40-50 dollars. And good find on the leather