Thread: Unpasting pasteds

Has anyone been able to take a leather strop pasted with diamond paste and clean it out enough to use as a non-abrasive stropping surface?

I have a Tony Miller paddle that was pasted with 1 and .5 diamond pastes that I'd like to convert into a travel strop. I tried cleaning off the .5 paste with saddle soap and a toothbrush, but I'm not sure if it's clean enough for regular stropping.

If not I'll probably put some chromium oxide on it...

Thanks,
Josh

I don't know how it works with the diamond compounds, but at HandAmerican.com Keith talks about using Goop hand cleaner to remove pastes from leather. Goop contains lanolin I believe, so you get cleaned & conditioned in one step.

I really have my doubts because as you strop the pastes have particles which become thoroughly embedded in the strop and I don't see how you will ever get it all out. You might get all the loose stuff out and it may look clean but unless you really scour the surface I don't understand how you would remove it all. But then again I don't use pasted strops.

While I doubt you will ever get it all out I think the majority will be removed. I don't think I would worry that much about a little paste on a paddle used only for travel. It's not like you will use it every day all year so the small amount of abrasive is unlikely to make a huge difference.

Remember that in another thread everyone is talking about adding a fine abrasive to the linen side of their strops which will be used quite often.

Tony

I've got a leather Cr2O3 paddle that was originally pasted with 3 micron diamond. I used saddle soap and a toothbrush to get it out. After it dried I used it as a daily strop for a couple of weeks with no apparent effect on the blade. There was probably a little bit of diamond left over, but not enough to do anything. Any abrasive embedded deeply enough to resist the soap and scrubbing is also probably embedded deeply enough that it's no longer at the surface.

If your worried, after you remove as much surface stuff as you can, you can lather your strop up and then take a pumice stone and scrub the surface evenly. After this, take a damp towel and wipe the strop thoroughly all the time rinsing out the towel between wipings. continue until your satisfied its clean. Now allow your strop to dry thoroughly but not in direct sunlight( I pat mine dry with dry rags and then wrap it in a dry towel or hang it over the shower stall until its dry) then apply whatever dressing or leather conditioner you prefer and apply it in your usual fashion.

My experience is once a strop is pasted it's contaminated for all eternity. Removing pastes is not easy especially when dealing with microscopic particles. Your best bet is to get yourself a dedicated unpasted strop and keep it that way.

I've had a few pasted strops that I've tried to unpaste. I used pumice and lather and neatsfoot and when all was said and done they still cut. I'm not a big fan of continually stropping with a cutting paste. It wears away the teeth instead of polishing them and thus reduces the life and usefulness of the edge. Their will also be a rounding effect on the edge over time and the bevel will need to be reset.

My 2 cents for what it's worth.

Regards,
EL

Originally Posted by elbonator

My experience is once a strop is pasted it's contaminated for all eternity. Removing pastes is not easy especially when dealing with microscopic particles. Your best bet is to get yourself a dedicated unpasted strop and keep it that way.

I've had a few pasted strops that I've tried to unpaste. I used pumice and lather and neatsfoot and when all was said and done they still cut. I'm not a big fan of continually stropping with a cutting paste. It wears away the teeth instead of polishing them and thus reduces the life and usefulness of the edge. Their will also be a rounding effect on the edge over time and the bevel will need to be reset.

My 2 cents for what it's worth.

Regards,
EL

On second though.............yeah, what he said <g>

BTW, while water, saddle soap, scrub brushes, and damp towels, etc.....have all been mentioned I cannot promise one of my padles will not be adversly affected by this. I never designed these to get wet and would worrky the leather could possibly loose it's bond or swell/shrink to a les than flat surface when done. Do these cleaning methods at your own risk.

Tony

I would like to preface my previous comments on this thread by saying that while I have cleaned plenty of unpasted strops in the manner that I have described with excellent results I have never tried this with a pasted strop, or for that matter a Tony Miller strop.

Mark

I`d use the Belvoir saddle/tack cleaner Step 1. It doesnt leave any residue or have any adverse effects on the leather and stitching, but it cleans effectively. Any decent saddlery should have it.