Straightening a strop...

[Haim]

Hello, Gentlemen!
A few days ago I received a strop I ordered. It's a cheap strop - Mainly for practice Purposes, so I assume the leather isn't exactly of good quality.
That being said - the strop was sent in an envelope - folded in two. It set in this envelope for about 2 weeks, exposed to temperature changes and probably some more fun stuff that are not good for leather. When it got to me, it was twisted and curved - so much that I can't run my razor flat on it without applying pressure that will damage the edge.
I tried hanging it for a few days in a somewhat hot room - no success.
I tried flattening it on the floor for the night - no success.
I was gonna try putting something flat and heavy on it tonight, but I have a feeling that will also fail.
Until I get a new strop (I intend to make one after reading Jimbo's post), is there a way I can fix this that I haven't thought of? Thanks.

[ace]

Leather bends. Just bend it opposite to its deformity and let it sit. This may have to be repeated from time to time but has worked every time for me.

[nodakjohns]

I'm going thru the same thing with a small one I have. I plan on soaking it with water and putting something heavy on it and letting it dry that way. Should work out fine. When I received it was severely cupped. I put shaving lather on it and layed it flat overnight thinking that would cure it, it did for the most part. (It was also dried out and that particular treatment did cure the dryness and most of the cupping).Now its so microscopically cupped that if I wasn't under a strong light I never would have noticed.

[JTmke]

As mentioned above you could soak it on water and place it flat under a flat object. Both objects would need to be very smooth and flat and you would want to oil the leather as it dries several times. Like breaking in a baseball glove. I would skip the soak in water and just try a light leather conditioner and the same two flat smooth objects. Just keep working it with oil and see if it flattens out.

[Utopian]

Strops, and leather in general, should never be folded. Was this strop sent to you by a commercial vendor or a private individual? If the former, don't bother trying to fix it. The vendor should have known better and should be responsible for correcting it.

[rolodave]

+1 to Utopian

If the sender will not correct the matter you can try the following:

Lather a bit with Williams shaving soap and then fill a screw-cap glass bottle with warm water and roll the bottle over the strop placed on a flat surface(kitchen counter top). You can also slide the bottle over the strop. This may take a bit of time. After the rolling place the strop under a smooth object with some weights on top. Leave overnight. The top smooth object must cover all of the leather. I use a 4' dry wall T-square blade.

Good luck,

Dave

[Haim]

Strops, and leather in general, should never be folded. Was this strop sent to you by a commercial vendor or a private individual? If the former, don't bother trying to fix it. The vendor should have known better and should be responsible for correcting it.

It was bought on ebay from a vendor, who already offered me a refound. We'll see if they're good for it.
Nonetheless, i need a strop untill i get a new one... So i am going to try and fix it, since i dont need to return it.

As for the soaking with water - i'll leave it as a last resort. I have a feeling it's not regular leather...
I'll try to wear it by rolling it.
I'll also start applying a little oil and "massaging" it...

[Utopian]

Couple of options for a temporary strop.

1. Blue jeans: if you are wearing them, sit down and strop along your thigh. If you are not, place a board or something flat inside the leg, pull the fabric taut and strop away.

2. Newspaper: you can just use it rolled up and strop an x-stroke over the cylindrical surface. Alternatively, wrap a few pages around a board or other flat object and strop on that.

3. The inside surface of a cereal box makes a viable strop. Just make sure the cut edges do not protrude up.

[Haim]

Couple of options for a temporary strop.

1. Blue jeans: if you are wearing them, sit down and strop along your thigh. If you are not, place a board or something flat inside the leg, pull the fabric taut and strop away.

2. Newspaper: you can just use it rolled up and strop an x-stroke over the cylindrical surface. Alternatively, wrap a few pages around a board or other flat object and strop on that.

3. The inside surface of a cereal box makes a viable strop. Just make sure the cut edges do not protrude up.

Is blue jeans the best option, or is it a matter of preference?

[Utopian]

Any will work but the jeans are probably a little more effective. The thigh stropping on jeans is probably the most convenient. I've done all of these but never bothered doing direct comparisons. Leather is better but these will get you by till your replacement strop arrives or your bent one is corrected.