Thread: Linen or leather after honing?

Hi everyone,
I'm not sure if this question belongs in the ''Stropping'' or ''Honing'' forums, but any comments would be appreciated. My question is this: After I hone a fairly new razor, (just to sharpen it up a little), should I strop with both the linen & leather, just the leather, or not at all before the first shave? It seems that if I use the linen first, the shave is somewhat "scratchy.'' If I just use the leather then the blade seems smoother. Does the linen contribute to the sharpness immediately after honing? What would you guys recommend?

I always strop on both the canvas side of my strop and the leather side whether it is after honing or prior to shaving.

However, if you like the results off of the leather only better, than that is what works for you and that is what you should do.

There is no rule. I myself almost never use linen or canvas, just the leather, that's what I like.

I always do 60/60 linen/leather after honing, and about 20/40 before my daily shave.

The bottom line is there is no hard and fast rule. Guys do it all different ways. Experiment and see what works best for you.

I always do about 20 passes on linen and then go to various leathers to finish. These things are always subjective. Good luck.

It depends on quality of your final finishing stone. if it is very fine just go to leather. if not then linen side and leather will do the job.

I have seen a few posts about linen degrading very fine edges but if you are light enough in the hand it should not be a problem. To me the purpose of the linen is sacrificial & only meant to catch stuff I don't want embedded in my good leather. I think felt is a good alternative if linen doesn't work for you.

In the PDf of the1961 barber manual excerpt on stropping and honing in the SRP Wiki help files here the stropping recommendation is for leather only following honing. The author points out that stropping before shaving is always necessary for best results. I found it interesting that he says the canvas may or may not be necessary depending on the hone used to finish. (speaking about using canvas at all, not following using it honing)

For me, having tried coming off the hone with leather only and with linen/leather I think I get a better shave if I use 50/50 linen/leather. What hi_bud_gl said about it depending on the hone used to finish the razor makes sense and I'm experimenting with that now. Sounds like what the fellow who wrote the manual may have been referring to. IIRC some of those old guys didn't think the canvas was useful at all. I think the fabric component is as important as the leather IME. Anyway, all we can do is try both ways and see what works for each of us. YMMV.



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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

In the PDf of the1961 barber manual excerpt on stropping and honing in the SRP Wiki help files here the stropping recommendation is for leather only following honing. The author points out that stropping before shaving is always necessary for best results. I found it interesting that he says the canvas may or may not be necessary depending on the hone used to finish. (speaking about using canvas at all, not following using it honing)

For me, having tried coming off the hone with leather only and with linen/leather I think I get a better shave if I use 50/50 linen/leather. What hi_bud_gl said about it depending on the hone used to finish the razor makes sense and I'm experimenting with that now. Sounds like what the fellow who wrote the manual may have been referring to. IIRC some of those old guys didn't think the canvas was useful at all. I think the fabric component is as important as the leather IME. Anyway, all we can do is try both ways and see what works for each of us. YMMV.



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The razor is coming off of a Norton 8k waterstone. The problem is that I think the canvas is giving me the scratch effect. Maybe the hone isn't fine enough, although many people have stated here that you should be able to get a good finish from a Norton 8k (providing the technique is good.) Also, I usually do 25/60.