Using pastes and strop sides

All right, I read Joel's interactive guide (awesome) and I have a couple of questions.

As per usual, I did a search first. Unfortunatly, I did not find the answers to my questions. If there is, please point me thoward the right thread.

I did not buy any strop or straight razor yet, still playing with a DE. My intentions at the moment are to get a straight, or two, or three, or four, ..., and shave during the week-end. That would be future me if I like a straight. I was lucky enough to be able to hire one. I might do a complete conversion one day but I still need to play with a straight before I am sure.

Back to the strop. I am looking at a few of them, I saw a regular strop with a leather and canvas side, the extra large dovo strop (I think that one is leather both sides), the Geo Trumper strop (seems to be 2 strops for 1, one canvas, one leather), etc...

I understand that Canvas seems to be side 1 and is rougher. Leather will be side no 2. When I use the strop (If I get one with Canvas/leather) I should do Canvas first and then leather? What would be the advantage of getting a leather strop without canvas? Or all strops come with leather + canvas? Canvas is usually dark and leather light colored?

I understand that I can apply a coarse paste to my strop to help and bring the edge of my razor back (instead of honing or to finish post-honing). However, is there a specific side where I should apply the paste (Canvas and/or leather)?

Post-applying the paste, I think it takes a few months before I need another paste (same or different) as the strop needs to be threated every 3-6 months? I saw how to apply and work the product in the leather, that's good.

I think that's all for now, as I said, not there yet, just learning in the interim! Thanks for your comments!

Pasting is done on leather. But you need a plain leather strop too, because you'll be stropping on that one daily. The pasted strops are only to refreshen the edge and shouldn't be overused.

Canvas is coarser than leather and can also help to refresh the edge, but you should always finish with the plain leather.

1 leather side is the most important, you got to have that one.

Luc you definitely need a plain leather strop for daily stropping. You can make a pasted paddle strop out of balsa wood on the cheap and apply any paste to it. My Chromium Oxide paddle set me back less than five bucks. Check out this thread.

leather - preshave, every shave
canvas - for limited use before regular stropping - the theory is that it removed oxidation that occurs naturally on the edge. its kinda like superleather but its a bit rougher, so you want to go to regular leather after. Its not needed, but lots of us like it
pasted leather - think of it as a super fine grit hone, for use as the blade starts to get a bit dull, but if you overuse it you can round the edge, and need to hit up a proper hone

So, from what I understand, all 3 would be best but a leather/canvas combo should be right without any paste. I should get a separate leather strop to finish my edge post-honing and maintaining it over time?

yeah, leather is the bare minimum, leather&canvas is nice, but unessential (some guys like it, some dont). The post honing strop (unless you use pastes) is on your everyday strop.

Just to make things complicated (Because im like that) you can make a paddle strop with balsa wood to paste, its cheaper and easier than leather.

A friend of mine pasted his canvas side for touch ups in between honing, he used a pretty fine grit though, 0.5 micron methinks. It's not my routine but it seems like pasted canvas does the same job as pasted leather or just canvas, only a little faster. If it were me (i don't use linen or canvas), i'd probably just do the paste or maybe the pasted canvas.

I have a TM latigo/canvas strop and I'm just starting out. I was planning to do as mentioned; daily stropping and then the canvas maybe once a week just to make sure the edge was really being kept up.

Is there any reason NOT to put some .5 micron paste on the canvas side? I mean, it can't hurt and would seem to improve my edge just that little bit (I don't want to worry about pasting balsa wood or a hone for a while if I can get away with it...)

Then again, making my own balsa paddle pasted strop really isn't too much of an investment. I dunno...any advice?

You can paste the canvas side as well. Thiers Issard makes a 10k white colored paste specfically for canvas. You can also get a double leather strop that does essentially the same thing as the canvas. there are no hard fast rules, it's just preference.

My preference is a two sided leather strop Horsehide/shell. The rough leather has a fine grit paste, and I finish on the plain shell strop. I also have a Dovo strop with canvas/russian leather that works great.

I can conclude it would be easier to get a canvas/leather strop to start with and maybe get a second one (2xleather) later to help me maintain those edges?