Thread: Kanayama Strop Care

I only cleaned mine once, damp cotton cloth and nothing else. It's still as supple as it was when it came and the draw is unchanged. I wouldn't apply oils and conditioners to it, personally.. not yet anyway!

Thank you gents for the replies, the strop is very supple and soft but has a few spots that look dry, maybe this evening when I am home I can snap a few pics. I do wipe it down with a damp microfiber cloth a few times a year so maybe it's the microfiber that's scratching the leather but I use very light pressure and no back & fourth scrubbing.

It does have a very light sheen to it but not shiny like my TM or Scruplework strops, I also use softened water to wipe it with but I am sure that does not matter, all my strops hang in the bathroom but it's a very large master bath and the strops are far away from the shower like maybe 6' or so and the bathroom as I said is a pretty large room.

I have only maintained my Kanayama strops with a daily hand rubbing. This is usually done late afternoon as I wipe my palm across my forehead and use medium to light pressure on the strop.

Well i came home this evening and looked at the strop and it looked ok but then I did a light stropping of about 40 laps and hopefully you can see what I am seeing, the strop looks dry and it looks like light scratches and it does this pretty much with any razor I strop on it, the edge is not affected at all, so is this a concern ?

I've got 3 Kanayamas and they all look pretty much the same as yours. The only maintenance I ever give them is a rubdown with the palm of the hand before use, and a wipe with a damp cloth a couple of times a year to clean the surface. Shell cordovan is not leather, in the strictest sense of the word, since it does not come from the actual skin of the horse. I would be very hesitant to use any leather products on it or deviate from the maker's instructions in any way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_cordovan

Originally Posted by sqzbxr

I've got 3 Kanayamas and they all look pretty much the same as yours. The only maintenance I ever give them is a rubdown with the palm of the hand before use, and a wipe with a damp cloth a couple of times a year to clean the surface. Shell cordovan is not leather, in the strictest sense of the word, since it does not come from the actual skin of the horse. I would be very hesitant to use any leather products on it or deviate from the maker's instructions in any way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_cordovan

I have been using a car wax applicator to wipe it down with, it's like microfiber wrapped arund a sponge so should I use something else to wipe it with like say a cotton tee shirt material instead ?

I just use an ordinary barber towel slightly dampened.