Thread: Black strop smudges the razor

My black latigo strop tends to smudge my razor spines with a black stain. I did give this strop a treatment with lather twice (it was recommended by some users here), and I have also used a non-abrasive oily paste. It is nice to the touch and performs pretty well, but is there a way to stop the black smudging?

I used to get that on a black strop. It wipes off easy enough, so I never worried about it.

Most strops do that when they are new and then it stops by itself.

I have a strop like that and I can oil my razor while I strop. The good news is it has gotten a little better over time.

That is the nature of Latigo, it is stuffed with Oils and waxes. You can polish it with a piece of brown paper, inside of a paper shopping bag, wrapped around a small, block of wood.

Brown paper is a bit abrasive. It can take a while for latigo to stop releasing wax and oil. As said it will wipe off with a tissue or towel.

Happens to me too. It does slowly get better over time. I cleaned my strop once with naptha and it helped a little but hasn't completely gone away. Doesn't hurt a thing, as the others have said wipe it off and carry on.

I've gotten orange crud on my razor from my Buffalo strop, and brown schmootz from my cowhide strop. Just the surface treatment wearing off. Only way to make it stop is to use the strop.

Side note: I thought my leather strop was done releasing goop after being sanded w/ 600 wet/dry. Scrubbed meticulously. Then stropped with for quite a while. Upon scrubbing it with saddle soap and giving it a good cleaning, I found that there is yet more brown goop buried within the strop. The leather soaks up quite a bit of dye during the coloring process I guess.

I think the Latigo's are the worst at this. The color and wax layer will actually leech as the strop breaks in. The little particles are harmless and you can brush them off the strop as they develop. At the end of the day, the strop develops a nice heavy draw that many like once broken in.