My first fabric strop was made from nylon seatbelt material. After that I tried some kind of poly webbing. I hated both of them – the feel was terrible and they didn’t seem to be doing a damn thing.
After that – I picked up a strop from Jose (Ambrose) and he had added a second component to the leather, a type of cotton/poly blend webbing. This was better, but still not quite what my mind was imagining.
The next fabric I tried was cotton – I picked up some Mil-Spec webbing and I used that for a while – it felt great under the blade, but I was convinced there was something better out there.
Following the cotton – I landed a ‘real’ linen strop – and I felt that I was onto something; the feel was fantastic, albeit a bit flimsy; I wanted a thicker webbing, so I could sense some ‘push-back’ from the material.
Later on, I had read where someone was raving over their ‘fire hose’ strop. So I started researching fire hoses. After a long while, I took a chance on an auction lot that included a genuine fire hose. The hose was marked 100% Flax Linen, so I was pretty excited to give it a spin.
After I figured out how to clean it, sew it, and fit it into a strop – I realized that I had found my ‘Neo’ of fabric strops; this was the ‘one’.
I did some before/after imaging with my microscope, and my ‘feelings’ were confirmed; the ‘real’ linen had a very positive effect (see photo below) on the razors edge. With that in mind, I started seeking out fire hoses that fit the bill; mind you, not all fire hoses are created equal. There are many different types of hose out there.
The fire hoses I use are 100% flax linen, meaning – there is nothing but flax linen in the hose, and they are unlined and untreated. These types of hose were used long ago, and have been out of production for a long time.
I put each strip through 2-3 very intensive cleaning cycles, and then I iron them. Following that, each strip is inspected and then the ends are sewn shut with vintage (1950s) cotton thread. I fit each one with a leather bolster to retain the swivel snap hook, a d-ring to the end to serve as a handle.
This next image is a before/after composite that demonstrates the effect that a Fire Hose strop can have on the edge of a straight razor. The magnification is about 2000x if you’re viewing this on a 19” monitor.
Sewing up the ends of a ‘Type 1” strop.
