Thread: Rehab an old strop.

I found an old Michell Mogal strop. The canvas side is in pretty good shape, but the leather is a bit dried out and has some nicks on the stropping surface. Any ideas on getting it back in shape? Thanks.

i got a old red imp that had hard spots and some nicks on it and this is what i did . first i sanded it with 80 grit and worked the grit up to 600 then i put neetsfoot oil on it and rubed it in good, then i took a 2 inch pipe and put it in the vice and worked the strop on it like you would shine shoes with the rough side down . now it is one of my best strops nice draw and no hard spots.

Before attempting what I did for breaking in my strop (which should work cause it was as rough as a 3-day beard) wait for someone else to post a better idea or to aprove my messy work, lol. Though if the damage is major it could be better to make your own leather strop... check the wiki, or search around the posts.

If the nicks aren't too deep and it is not as dry as a fossil, try first using some neatsfoot/mineral/baby/or just any leather conditioning oil you may have around, let it rest for 24 hours at least so the leather can withstand the treatment. Then just follow the breaking in instructions from Classic Shaving

1. Rub dry pumice stone over the strop in order to remove the outer nap and develop a smooth surface.
*Til the nicks are gone, be careful so you don't make them bigger or break the strop

2. Rub stiff lather into the strop.

3. Rub dry pumice stone over the strop until smooth.
*At this point, after the pumice stone I used sandpaper of increasing grits to make it smoother

4. Clean off the strop.

4. Rub fresh stiff lather into the strop.

5. Rub a smooth glass bottle over the strop several times until a smooth surface is developed.
*Then you can just put some more conditioning oil if the leather still looks like its thirsty (should't though)...

Hope it helps, wait for someone else to aprove my method!

I'd throw my hat in this ring, but I believe the subjects been covered.