If you are considering sharpening your own knives, you may have heard about a strop. A strop is a strip of leather that is used to hone the blade of a knife, straight razor, or other blade. Although usually made of cowhide leather, there are certainly other types available. It is an optional step at the end of the sharpening process, usually used for fine knives and straight razors.

After you’ve sharpened the blade using a sharpening stone or other sharpening device, you should still fine-tune the blade to get the sharpest edge possible. While most sharpeners remove metal from the edge of the blade using a rough surface composed of ceramic, stone, or another very hard material, the strop is made of leather. Though it is usually relatively hard leather, it is still much softer than any other sharpening material you would typically use. Many high-end sharpeners, particularly electric ones, include a stropping abrasive to mimic the effect of a leather strop; the honing grit on most sharpeners is usually a suitable replacement for actual stropping, particularly for knives meant to be used rather than displayed.

Using a strop will get your knife blade to be slippery sharp, without any roughness. A strop can help your fine knives or collectible knives shine, and is often used on straight razors or other tools with a very thin edge. After sharpening a knife, there may still be tiny or even microscopic bits of metal on the blade’s edge. After just one or two uses of the knife, the very thin blade may begin to fold down onto itself. Stropping will straighten the blade, completing the sharpening process. Stropping can be done with a polishing or abrasive compound, or it can be done using only the leather. It is always done as the last step in the sharpening process, after using a sharpener with a much rougher surface than the leather.

To strop a knife, swipe both sides of the blade’s edge over the leather strap. In most cases you’ll want to use the same angle as when using the knife against a knife sharpener; this may be about 10-15 degrees, depending on the knife. The motion for using a strop is essentially the same as running the blade across a knife sharpener. You will be surprised at how the edge will really begin to shine after stropping. A leather strop is traditionally used by men who sharpen their straight razor against the leather, but it can be used on most knives and other blades.

If you have a straight razor, it should be honed or sharpened every few months, but it will need stropping before each and every shave, providing a new edge each time. For very fine knives, stropping can be done just as frequently. There are many types of oils and pastes that can be rubbed into the leather strop. A leather strop will last through many uses, but as it becomes full of small cuts, it will become less effective and will eventually require a replacement.

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