Herold Solingen HS56RI Double-sided Tension Strap, red

The double-sided leather strop from Herold®, originating from the German knife city of Solingen, is designed for sharpening and polishing authentic straight razors. With an effective leather surface of 19.5 x 4 cm, this tool provides everything you need. The model 56RI features a red base coating on one side, specially suitable for carbon steel knives, and is used in combination with the red strop paste.

A strop is intended for stropping your (shaving) razor. By turning the handle, the flexible strap is tightened through a sturdy tensioning system – make sure the strap is not too loose to achieve the best results. During stropping, you align and polish the edge of the blade, removing small scratches and burrs that have occurred during shaving, and making the blade sharp again.

Although the strop is mainly used by owners of authentic straight razors, it is also well-suited for maintaining other knives. Once applied, the strop paste can be used multiple times before a new layer is needed. The untreated side of the strop can also be used, either as a shaving strop or with another sharpening paste.

Herold has been a leading specialist in high-quality shaving and tension belts and associated pastes for many years.

Advice/Use When the knife feels dull, it's time to use the sharpening strap. This strap has two sides: a colored side (red or green) and a brown side. You apply sharpening paste to the colored side, which is not needed every time – as long as the knife makes a grinding sound on the strap, there is still enough paste present. Allow the paste to dry after application.

Leg the knife flat on the underside of the strap, with the back of the knife facing up. Move the knife upwards without pressure, then gently turn it over the back and move down again.

After approximately 10 back and forth movements over the tension strap, followed by 10 times on the canvas and 20 times on the leather side of the sharpening strap, the blade will be perfectly sharp again. In case of more severe wear, the use of a sharpening stone is necessary.