Thread: Belated intro + market strop and razor

I've just recently taken the plunge into straight razors - restoration curiosity to start with, will see if I'm brave enough to try using the later! I picked up a Bengall off eBay - needs a little work but is in pretty good condition (I posted this in the Bengall Band of Brothers forum entry).

On the weekend I thought I'd see what the local community trash & treasure market had on offer. Surprisingly there was quite a few razors, ranging from the woefully rusted to death to a few in good condition, although some had scale cracks and damage. I found a Taylor Eye Witness The 1000 I really liked so grabbed that for a lot less than eBay razors go for! A little rust to remove to and a rehone and I think that's all it needs.

I also managed to pick up a horse hide barber's strop (Malwa brand "Finish CK18" on the handle), the other side is a different, thinner leather with a "hobnail" square pattern embossed on it. Can't find any information on it, I'm cleaning it and have to restitch it after the handle came off in my hand (the thread was old and perished it seems)... The horsehide side had quite a lot of white/grey waxy stuff on it, but that seems to be cleaning off ok with some gentle stropping with a single-edge razor blade to remove the worst of it and worn out plastic scouring pad which seems to be helping move around some of the wax/oils and restoring the colour again. There are still some dark patches on the surface, seems to be more wax build-up, will switch to something gentler to remove those. I might try glycerine soap if that doesn't work but am trying to avoid that.

I was thinking treating the leather with some old "Boot Goo" I have which is a natural beeswax-based product (although more oils than wax left last time I looked) Boot Goo - Joseph Lyddy , Australia Does this sound ok or is it best to avoid such products on strops? Advice please!

Photos below:


Quiet1