Reply To: Diamond Emulsion VS Stropping Paste
Both sprays and emulsions apply easily – just spritz or pump 
The spray does tend to radiate out, so you just need to keep the height from your stropping surface at an ideal distance so that the whole spritz lands on the strop. Emulsions pump out like hand cream, so it is a much more controlled release, which would be almost right on top of the strop.
The emulsion can be spread out pretty easily since it is a more solid base whereas the spray tends to pool more due to the watery base. It’s a trial and error process to see how much you can apply at any one time and there is the absorption rate of the stropping medium itself. Ultimately, both will dry out and you can load the strop again as necessary.
In general, the PASTES tend to come off very easily of the leather and roo strops. I think everyone here has experienced that at one point or another. Larger surface areas like bench strops tend to do better, but not much since the abrasive sits on top of the surface. The Jende Nanocloth Ultra strops, however, will hold the pastes, sprays and emulsions due to its honeycomb-like structure.
As for the emulsions and sprays on roo or cow leather, they both tend to stick better to the surface of the strop than pastes. I don’t really know why, but it could be the pores open on the leather when the wet abrasives are applied, or the liquid and base of the spray and emulsion act as a sort of glue layer from the residue as it evaporates, or some combination of both. You will still be pulling abrasive off the strop, just not as much per pass. Overall, the retention rate of the sprays and emulsion on leathers is greater than that of pastes.
I hope that helps… 😀
