Thread: Unused w/ a fold :(

Got a great unused vintage Russian leather strop but the guy folded it (even though I expressly asked him to roll it up!)

Wondering if I should soak in tha bath and dry flat... I have done this on other strops and it worked well but they were ones I didn't care about and this one is so nice otherwise... I was hoping it would be my premier daily strop

Asking for advice from the stropmeisters

Thanks
Ivo

I had that problem with a vintage horseshell strop I got that was in mint condition but had been folded and had a crease going across it and had a dimple where it was in contact with the hardware at the top. I tried everything including hanging with a 10lb weight for months at a time. Eventually I just soaked it in water and it came out fine. The only problem is it has some staining from the water in places. I don't think you can do anything about that. The only other possibility I could think of is if you have access to a steam machine. That might work also.

Thank you for the answer (I remember you telling the story once before, btw)

This one at least doesn't have a crease yet, and I couldn't care less about stains. I was only worried about changing the leather characteristics, as Keith and others seem adamant that water and leather don't mix. Which did not seem that much of a big deal on the junker that I soaked as an experiment. It didn't even have stains... and seems to function well. But maybe not as well as it would have if it had not been soaked??? Who knows

Cheers
Ivo

All done - soaked and dried. Now it came up slightly convex in the middle - I was wondering if this can be designed into the leather. This works fine for stropping (unlike convex cupping - with which I have had issues on another strop)

Worked in Tabac lather, waited 1 day. Tried - worked very well but decided to condition a bit more with mink oil, should be great tonight.

Too bad a blade point put some scratches with the X in the top center of the strop right below the Russian Imperial seal on its first use Of course, this doesn't affect the performance at all but it was still unpleasant.

CHeers
Ivo

Time to break out the pumice

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Time to break out the pumice

oh, not that bad at all Ilija - some hand rubbing's enough for now.

Cheers
Ivo

Good to hear I should also try my hand at restoring a vintage strop just to save one from disuse and acquire a traveller