While you should own a real strop if you are committed to straight razor shaving, I recognize that some people aren’t ready to jump in feet first. Or, maybe your saving up for that premium strop or want to practice your stropping skills on something inexpensive. To that end, I’ve compiled this list of five inexpensive strop alternatives. Most of these items you already have. If you don’t own them, they are inexpensive to purchase.

1. Leather Belt

A leather belt is the obvious and most easily obtained alternative to a strop. I’ve said it many times already, but a strop is a piece of leather. So is a belt. While strops are made from better quality leather than most belts these days, a belt is still leather, even though its probably been sanded and dyed. The better quality of belt, the better results you’ll get. To use the belt, just attach it to a hook using the belt buckle, wrap it around a rack, or mount it on something sturdy. Then, hold the other end and use it just like a very skinny strop. You will eventually want a real strop though. While they are still leather, there aren’t many horse hide belts that come in 2.5″ or 2″ widths. Nor are there many cowhide belts that come in that width either.

2. Newspaper

The paper texture and printing ink serve as an excellent medium for stropping. The ink even acts as an abrasive of sorts, polishing the edge of the razor. While not nearly as good as leather, newspaper serves in a pinch. To strop on newspaper, fold the newspaper so you have approximately a 3″ wide stropping surface. Lay the paper on the edge of a sturdy table. Hold the newspaper on the top with one hand and strop normally. The folding provides enough cushioning to replicate the deflection of a normal strop.

3. Jeans/Denim

Seriously. There is very little that distinguishes a cotton component of a high quality strop from regular good old fashioned denim. In fact, the only difference may just come down to type of weave in some cases. While cotton does not substitute for a good leather strop, it comes pretty close. Stropping on jeans is as simple as putting them on, and stropping on your thigh. It helps to sit down while doing so. Alternatively, you can fold the jeans and lay them on a table similar to the newspaper method above.

4. Palm of Your Hand

As crazy as this might sound, the palm of your hand is leather. It is also a very good stropping surface. In fact, some people prefer to finish stropping on their palms after stropping on leather. To strop on your palm, hold out your non-dominant hand and strop in a very small x-pattern on the pinky side of the palm.

5. Back of a Legal Pad

Surprisingly the back of a legal pad works pretty good. However, its not nearly as good as any of the above strop alternatives. In addition to the back of the paper pad, cardboard also works in a pinch. To strop on it, place the pad on the edge of a table and strop normally.

6. Used Seat Belt (Bonus!)

A cloth strop is an expensive addition. However, the benefits are worth the cost. However, there are some low cost alternatives for those with a DIY frame of mind. Used seatbelts can be had for a dime. Alternatively, you can cut up those used jeans for a cotton strop. All it takes is a little DIY know how to attach some sort of mounting hardware. One way is to punch a hole in the top and loop a leather thong through it. More intricate methods are also available.

The most complex operation in strop maintenance is applying oil to rejuvenate the leather. For normal, everyday maintenance, all that one strop maker recommends is to rub your hands up and down the strop. This will transfer the natural oils in your hands to the strop leather. If you use the strop every day, the daily action of the razor and your oils should keep the strop hydrated. In extreme cases, your strop may have dried out. Meaning, the natural oils found within your strop have evaporated. If this has happened, don’t panic. Your strop can be brought back to life with the simple application of oil.Neatsfoot oil is distilled from the shin bones of cattle. Neatsfoot oil is used as a conditioning, softening and preservative agent for leather, making it ideal for strop rejuvenation and conditioning. It is useful for all types of leather and is widely used. It is also relatively inexpensive. An alternative to neatsfoot oil, if you have aversions to animal based products, is light mineral oil. This is not to be confused with heavy mineral oil widely found at pharmacies and supermarkets in the U.S.. Light mineral oil is thinner. It also goes by the name of butcher’s block oil or food grade mineral oil. It can be special ordered by your local pharmacy as well. This derivative of oil production serves as an alternative to neatsfoot oil.

You can tell if/when your leather is in need of conditioning if you experience high levels of “leather dust.” You will notice the dust after a round of stropping. The leather particles are being shed much like our skin sheds cells on a daily basis. However, your razor shouldn’t be coated in this “dust.” It is a sign that your strop could use some conditioning because it is dried out and needs oil.

To condition the strop, just put a little bit of oil on the palm of your hand, and rub it up and down the strop. Repeat as necessary.

Draw is a technical term used by the straight razor community to describe a quality stropping leather has. While a strop is ultimately a piece of leather, different leathers act differently on the razor. Leathers can have very unique experiences while stropping and can give vastly different feedback to the user. Which brings us back to the definition of draw. Draw is the resistance or drag one feels when stropping. Ultimately, the amount of draw a leather has is dependent upon the leather used and the tanning process. Adding neatsfoot oil to your strop temporarily increases the amount of draw. Sanding the leather permanently increases the draw. Ultimately, draw does not affect the final edge terribly much. It is more a personal preference option.

Different leathers with draw have different accompanying attributes. For example, latigo has a lot of draw, but has a waxy feel to it. Suede has a lot of draw, with a clean feeling. Buffalo has a similarly clean draw to it, although it does have less draw than latigo. We haven’t tried Tony Miller’s new “bull-hide” yet, but its supposed to have a lot of draw with a clean feeling, possibly similar to buffalo. Regular leather has a medium amount of draw, while horse hide has almost no draw. Shell Cordovan is the slickest, with as close to no draw as possible. It is also why archers love cordovan finger-tabs. Shell cordovan has incredibly low levels of friction.

Which brings us to why certain leathers have more draw than others. Its all about friction and surface area. To increase the draw of any leather, all you have to do is lightly sand the leather. Lightly sanding the leather raises the nap and “suedes” the leather. We take no position on whether you should or shouldn’t do this, but if you do, we recommend starting using a high grit (800-1,000) and working your way down. Raising the nap increases the surface area contacting the razor and edge, thereby increasing the resistance felt, aka draw. Another factor is how the leather was tanned. Different tanning methods will influence the final product and affect the draw of the leather.

What Does Draw Do

Now, what exactly does an increased amount of draw actually do? The answer is simply change the amount of feedback. Some people have put forward that leathers with more draw are more effective at sharpening the razor due to the increased resistance and surface contact. But other than personal opinion and conjecture, there has been no evidence presented which supports this hypothesis. In addition, if this was true, we’d all be sanding our strops to increase the draw and suede would be the leather of choice. In our opinion, draw only affects the feedback you receive. Other than increased tactile feedback, there is no advantage to draw.

So, to sum everything up, draw is a personal preference. Some people really like it and take sandpaper to their horse-hide strops. Some strop makers buff slicker leather to increase draw. Others offer very exotic leathers with more draw than traditional cowhide. In the end, it all comes down to personal preference. The amount of draw, by itself, is a personal choice.

This post is for the new straight razor user looking to purchase their first strop. There is a lot of information out there on the internet. It would take a very long time to read it all. Trust me, I’ve only read half of it at most. A lot of it is non-sense, some of is useless, and most of it is repetitive. Here is the bottom line: a strop is a piece of leather. That’s all it comes down to. No amount of fancy hardware, ornate screws, cordovan handles, or silver clips will make the strop any better than any other strop. Its just a strip of leather and a strip of canvas (good strops come with both) mounted with hardware facilitating easy setup in your shave den.

So, as a new user, the question I get asked most often is: “what should I buy?” The answer depends upon a few factors, so I’ll go over them in this article. The first factor is how committed you are to straight shaving. If your committed and know you aren’t going to quit, that this is the bee’s knees for you, then yes, you need a strop. If you just want to try straight razor shaving, not knowing whether you’ll like it or not and could quit at any moment, the answer is: no, don’t buy a strop.

The truth is, you don’t need a strop at all. In fact, bad stropping hurts your razor. Stropping is a learned skill, just like straight razor shaving. Good stropping prolongs your razor’s edge life, bad stropping drastically reduces it. The difference between stropping your razor and not stropping it comes down to how long the blade can go in between sharpening before it becomes too dull for comfort. Ultimately it depends upon a number of factors including: skill level, hair thickness, density of stubble, and tolerance level. Putting it into numbers, an unstropped razor should last between a week to a month or so. A regularly stropped razor will typically last between 6 months to a year in the hands of a skilled stropper. However, in the beginning, I wasn’t exactly a master of stropping, so expect only three months to six months at first. Remember, bad or inadequate stropping will drop that number even further.

So, now that I’ve established that you don’t actually need a strop, lets talk about those who are sure they do want to stick with straight shaving. If you fall into this category, then yes, you need a strop. Its not essential right away, but you’ll eventually want one so badly it becomes a need. So, its best to purchase one right away. To these people I always suggest the following: “Buy the strop you can afford to lose.” I say this because as a new strop user, you are extremely likely to nick or damage your strop in some manner. In most cases the damage is only cosmetic, but the risk of catastrophic damage is significant. When you become proficient at stropping and know you won’t cut up your new $300 cordovan strop, then you can buy the expensive stuff. But until then, it is wise to invest minimally.

At the most basic level, a strop is a piece of leather with mounting hardware. If your in the DIY mood, go down to a leather supply store, buy a strip of leather, punch a hole in it, string a leather thong through it and voila you have a strop. Mount the string to a hook or doorknob and hold the other end with your non-dominant hand. In fact, having no handles or D-rings was how most good quality strops were sold back in the straight razor’s heyday. I’m not sure why, I much prefer handles, but whatever the reason, it works now, and it worked then. There’s nothing wrong with it. Another, perhaps even cheaper, but definitely simpler, alternative is to just use a belt. Find a belt made with good quality, top-grain leather and strop away. Remember, we’re not going for the best quality strop in the world, just something functional.

Moving up a notch in the strop market, there used to be several good options for inexpensive starter strops. Unfortunately most or all have dried up. Tony Miller was the most widely known. That said, the Illinois Strop Company (now owned by Fromm) is still in business. Which is great news for new strop buyers. Sadly, they’re quality has lapsed over the years. But at the price, you can afford to buy three or four per one really good quality strop. And they come with a canvas strop too. Another option is the RupRazor Filly strop.

And for those who like to splurge, well, you’ll just have to wait for the next stropping article.