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Razor strop

Device for straightening and polishing blades

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated May 9, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

A razor strop or simply a strop (sometimes called a razor strap or strap) is a flexible strip of leather, canvas, denim fabric, balsa wood, or other soft material, used to straighten and polish the blade of a straight razor, a knife, or a woodworking tool such as a chisel. In many cases stropping re-aligns parts of the blade edge that have been bent out of alignment. In other cases, especially when an abrasive polishing compound is used, stropping may remove a small amount of metal (functionally equivalent to lapping). Stropping can also burnish (i.e., push metal around on) the blade.

The strop may be a hanging strop, a block (placed on a table, or in ones hand), or a hand-held paddle. Various abrasive compounds may be applied to the strop to aid in polishing the blade while stropping to obtain a mirror-like finish. Common abrasive compounds include diamonds, chromium(III) oxide, aluminum oxide, and iron(III) oxide.

01Use

Stropping is traditionally associated with straight razors used for shaving, as these are the thinnest blades in everyday use, and therefore require frequent stropping. Kitchen knives may be straightened on a honing steel if less sharpness is acceptable. In principle, any blade may be polished by stropping. Custom strops are made to hone irregularly-shaped tools, such as chisels or gouges, and nearly any piece of smooth leather or heavy fabric infused with abrasive compound may be used for stropping.

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Razor strop”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Related topics

Knife sharpening

Knife sharpening is the process of making a knife or similar tool sharp by grinding against a hard, rough surface, typically a stone, or a flexible surface with hard particles, such as sandpaper. Additionally, a leather razor strop, or strop, is often used to straighten and polish an edge.

Sharpening

Sharpening is the process of creating or refining a sharp edge of appropriate shape on a tool or implement designed for cutting. Sharpening is done by removing material from the implement with an abrasive substance harder than the material of the implement, followed sometimes by processes to polish the sharp surface to increase smoothness and correct small mechanical deformations without removing significant metal.

Sharpening stone

Sharpening stones, or whetstones, are used to sharpen the edges of steel tools such as knives through grinding and honing. Such stones come in a wide range of shapes, sizes, grits and material compositions for varied use.