Thread: Is Your Strop Dry or Dirty?

Originally Posted by Steve56

I don't know why I just noticed this thread, but great stuff here.

Some cautions though, 409 contains, or did contain in the past, hydrochloric acid. Read the labels before putting anything on your strop! I would not use anything containg HCL on a strop.

I used to rub the strop with my palm, but truly I think hand oil is 'dirty', containing salt, dust, the remnants of food preparation and eating (yum!) etc. So now I rarely rub the strop with my palm, though I do not doubt over time that may smooth or polish the leather - rather I use a tiny bit of Dovo yellow strop goop when I feel the strop needs it.

Iwasaki-San's paper contains much useful information about strop maintenance and it's worth a read.

My regimen is nothing whatsoever on the strop. If I feel it's accumulating more swarf than I want, the I clean it with a microfiber cloth and water, then when dry, I polish the leather with a soft jnat nagura.

If I feel it needs something, then I make sure the strop is uniformly moistened and apply a tiny amount of Dovo strop paste fore and aft. I have also used multiple light applications of Ballistol (mineral oil) on old strops, working it in and flexing the leather at every application with success.

Cheers, Steve

In the old days barbers maintained their strops by using their palms. Yea, palm oil contains all kinds of bodily waste products but barbers used the same strops for many many years. They probably used the same couple their entire careers.

I'm old enough to remember going to a barber while they still gave straight shaves and used a straight for trimming after a haircut and I remember them stropping before each use and those strops were so slick you could practically see your reflection in them and they were also almost black from the palm oil over the years.

That's good enough for me.