I'm finally getting my act together and getting a strop, an Illinois 827 (Listed as a Fromm strop), and was wondering if I needed to get a strop paste/dressing. Are they for breaking in new strops, reconditioning old strops, or maybe some more sinister third option? At $10 it's not really a big deal but if I don't need it...meh I also have a related question (so I don't start a whole other thread): The description mentions that the strop is coated in zinc oxide for more abrasion. I can pretty much ascertain what that means, but the question is can or will it pose any harm to the blade? Also, is this a 2 or 1 sided strop? It mentions canvas but I just want to be sure. Picture only shows 1 side. Maybe someone can shed some insight on this particular model? Here's the item description: "Russian" style made from the flesh side of the leather - best for blunt and heavy razors. Offers great smoothing action. Handcrafted, exceptional strops from the only manufacturer in the United States. Canvas impregnated with zinc oxide to abrade and sharpen. Cowhide. Complete with clip and swivel. Thanks guys I am open to other strop suggestions, the only catch is that it needs to be available on Amazon (gift card buy).
The 827 is a great strop. It's a 2 pc.-- Linen and Russian Leather. The coating they put on their linen is mild and will do nothing to harm your blade. Personally I wouldn't add any dressing. Just rub the leather side with your hand prior to stropping and the oils transferred will keep it supple. Good Luck!
I totally agree with Chris. I will also add that people use all sorts of things on the leather strop including lather, just handling it from time to time is sufficient.
I think I read over at SRP where a guy would rub his hands on his face to get any oil he could on his hands and then rubbed his strop down with it before stropping. I used Lexol on mine but some people say that will cause craking....but others say its all they have ever used. I'd go with the hand rub down if I were to do it over again. Just seems to make sense without extra fuss.
When I was a teenager that would have made for one messy strop. I have been straight shaving for about a year and a half and have never used any kind of dressing on my strop. My feeling is that once the blade has been honed we don't need to turn the strop into another stone.
I tend to agree. And something to think about too, if your stropping skills are off, you are actually harming the blade when you have it pasted. It may be small but why take the chance on decreasing the life of the edge? That's my take. There are a lot of people who use pasted strops with absolute success and happiness. You could get the paste, pick up a grommet kit from the HW store, find some spare cloth running around the house, make your own strop and try it on that to see if you get the benefit that made you inquire about pasting in the first place. You'd be out about $6 for the grommets and perhaps some old jeans instead of rendering half of your strop less than what you want.
When you get into the arena of "Pastes" that improve the edge there are many to chose from, in this thread I did sometime ago I outline many of them, it is almost 2 years old so it does not outline using Boron Oxide that has gained some popularity lately.. http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/some-thoughts-on-honing-razors.14931/
