Thread: Red Latigo strop is leaching dye - normal?

I've been using a nice red latigo strop from Staright Razor Designs for a few weeks. I've treated it a few times with Williams' Mug Soap. It was really leaching a lot of red at first, i mistakenly used a white hand towel to wipe off the excess soap the first time, and boy was my wife mad!

So I only use paper towels to wipe it now, but it still leaves the paper red, wet or dry. And everytime I strop there is a dark red waxy gum that builds up on the spine.

is this normal?? or is it possible the tanning was done wrong? thanks.

I'm sure someone with more authority will step in, but I doubt anything was done wrong, as the QC I have found so far from SRD has been phenominal.
Why are you treating the strop? I have had mine since before they were even on the site, and never treated it with a thing besides a rubbing with the palm of my hand, and it works great, never had any color leach.

Don't worry, this is normal. At least, that's what I've found with two different red latigo strops.

My wife goes nuts if I use a hand towel to wipe or dry it for exactly those reasons.

You don't need to treat it. If you do decide to use neatsfoot oil, then use it sparingly. But I just use the palm or heel of my hand to rub the leather every so often. That's about as much conditioning that's needed!

I have the same strop, and as per Lynn's advice, the only "treating" it gets is a daily palm rub down. No red dye on my hands, though.

It kinda sounds like the soap is causing the dye to come off. You might want to ask around as to how to safely remove that soap.

I know that some strops are supposed to be treated with soap but I've never really understood the logic. You want oils in the leather. Regular shaving soap, as opposed to saddle soap, will remove oils. It doesn't make sense to me. If you have treated it a few times, stop. Any new latigo strop will release some red dust particles at first. I suspect what you are getting is those particles gummed up in soap residue. Now just use it and rub it with your hand.

Oh, and buy your wife a new towel...
and some flowers!

Originally Posted by Utopian

You want oils in the leather. Regular shaving soap, as opposed to saddle soap, will remove oils.

Hmmm, I'm really confused now. The only reason I thought to use williams is because the wiki mentions it in the strop article about 4 times. But I just went back to the article and saw the disclaimer:

"The information below will work for genuine leather strops, but not necessarily for other materials, in particular Latigo"

What exactly is Latigo? isn't it "genuine leather"? And if soap really is bad for strops shouldn't we change the article? Thakns.

Originally Posted by smokelaw1

Why are you treating the strop?

When i first got the strop, I did the palm rubbing thing quite a bit. But the the thing had zero draw, unless I pressed down on the razor super hard (which is a non-no). I felt like I might as well be dragging the razor across a piece of smooth glass (ok, slight exageration). I can't imagine how anyone could use a latigo out of the box to do any stropping, which is another reason I am wondering if I get a bum piece of leather.

Although I gotta say, after a few treatments with williams per the wiki article. I now feel plenty of draw using just the weight of the razor. go figure

All leather is processed in various ways. Latigo has a particularly arduous process but in the end it is impregnated with oils. It IS genuine leather. I haven't seen that Wiki article but you're right, that is confusing.

You might want to create a new thread in the strop section, with a link to this thread, asking about this problem.

On the other hand, maybe a moderator could move it to the strop section?

I have the same strop you have and for the first several months did nothing but use my palm. If you put anything on it I would recommend a coating of neatfoot oil. Let it sit for about 24 hours and then either use the heel of your hand or a clean towel to remove any excess.

Lewis

The SRD Red Latigo needs now treatment except a daily rub down with your palm. It's already treated and treating it again may decrease it's effectiveness. I have one and have never done any treatment besides the palm rub down once a week. Not all leathers and strops are created equal:-)