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I noticed some stickiness and discoloration to my 3 inch TM honey brown the other day so I rubbed some lather into it last night. I pumiced it just a little and am waiting for it to dry. It is still darkened this morning and It has been about 10 hours. I am getting worried that maybe I did something wrong. Could lather damage a strop?
Did you rinse the lather off? If you did, I doubt it would hurt it because it's just leather. Maybe put some strop conditioner on there when it's dry.
I just pumiced it and let it and the lather was into the leather. I wiped rubbed the leather with a rag and let it dry but I did not rinse.
Matt,
I've used lather on two of my strops to condition/break them in. Barbers did this all the time; it's in the barber manuals. So far I like the results on both. Mainly I was trying to flatten them, so I rubbed lather into the entire strop and then ran a glass bottle over the surface for a minute to smooth it.
It does increase the draw a bit, which might be why you're getting the sticky feeling. I wouldn't worry about it--it'll probably work itself out. If not, you could lather the entire strop to even things out. But that will change the way it feels. You might like it, though. :)
Josh
Guys. I read post here every week about lathering ansd wetting strops. I know barbers did this years ago but very likely they did it to strops that had already been dressed before with oils, waxes or whatever snake oil was in the dressing products.
Raw, not treated leather (or linen for that matter) and water do not mix well. Leather is usually treated to reduce the ill effects of water and here we are soaking and scrubbing, etc...... Once dressed with oils and waxes I would guess no harm is being done, do it to a new, untreated strop and you are on your own.
While I stand behind my products, soaking, lathering, washing and applying "goop" hand cleaner to my leather/linen hanging or paddle strops pretty much leaves you on your own as I cannot predict the final results nor promise that it will not harm them.
Tony
Tony,Quote:
Guys. I read post here every week about lathering ansd wetting strops. I know barbers did this years ago but very likely they did it to strops that had already been dressed before with oils, waxes or whatever snake oil was in the dressing products.
Raw, not treated leather (or linen for that matter) and water do not mix well. Leather is usually treated to reduce the ill effects of water and here we are soaking and scrubbing, etc...... Once dressed with oils and waxes I would guess no harm is being done, do it to a new, untreated strop and you are on your own.
While I stand behind my products, soaking, lathering, washing and applying "goop" hand cleaner to my leather/linen hanging or paddle strops pretty much leaves you on your own as I cannot predict the final results nor promise that it will not harm them.
Tony
What should I do to clean it then? How do you recommend I proceed from here? I was hesitant to use lather but the strop was sticky, I am sure my nephew got something on it with his hands.
I hope I did not ruin my strop.
Tony,
For goodness sake, you're saying that the ill-informed must float in their own boats? I'm finding that my raft of sticks has no bilge from which to bail and now I must sink then swim? Drat. I was so hoping that were my super strop dressing of environmentally gracious oils, Neutrogena, hoof balm, and neatsfeet (double application) not to work that you would freely supply me with an endless number of new strops upon which I could try my hoped for perfect strop emollient.
Huh, do you suppose I should try the Zeepk folks?:shrug:
Bruce:roflmao
Matt,
Maybe some strop dressing would be all thats needed to remove whatever was put onto the strop. It would at least even out the surface feel I would think. Discoloration on lighter leathers is unavoidable though so that part may not be fixable but will not hurt the strop.
Your's is not a huge problem but you would be surprised some of the questions I get asked when people do really bad things to their strops <g>. I've received more than one back that had been cleanly folded in half, creasing the leather for good or that had obviously been dropped/soaked in water.
I can always supply replacement leather in these cases but am trying to get people to avoid damaging their strops by careless experimenting. (Not you Matt, just warding off the "home remedies" that many do <g>.
A good example is my own experiemntation with diamond sprays. While I have used them for over a year with great results I did test them as if a person were to carelessly apply them. Without proper drying time between many multiple coats the alcohol can dissolve the glue on most paddles made, destrying the paddle. I could foresee guys eager to get started soaking their paddles with spray only to have the leather loosen in a few days. Easy does it in this case and it was safer to shelve the whole idea than to offer an product prone to beginner abuse.
Take care,
Tony
Tony,
I do apperciate your willingness to help a customer. I don't think a replacement would be needed but even so, I would not feel right asking for it. Next time I need to clean the strop though, I will take care not to use a lather. Tonight, I am going to apply some Dovo strop dressing. I can't seem to find the stuff you mailed out with the strop which looks like it is a much lighter consistency. Is this for a purpose or will the Dovo stuff serve me just as well.
Thanks again, and in advance for your help.
Matt
I think Tony's right to warn that some treatments can "void your warantee," so to speak. And it's always best to use a strop for a while before you decide to "improve" it, because anything you do to it will alter the way it works.
You should approach pumice, lather and strop dressing with caution: You can't go back. :)
That said, I do like what the lather did to the two strops I've tried it on. One was a Jemico (my only non-Tony strop) and the other was a latigo strop from Tony. It helped flatten and smooth the surfaces and add some draw, which I like. I only decided to take this step after using the TM strop for more than six months and the Jemico for about six weeks, and after trying strop dressing on both.
Tony, do you think there's enough water in a good, stiff lather to hurt a strop? Related question: Do you think it's OK to use saddle soap on a strop? That's usually applied with a damp sponge or rag, I think. Have you directly observed any problems with using lather, or are your concerns about potential long-term problems?
I'm pretty interested in this--thanks for your comments. :)
Josh
Josh,
I have not actually seem lather damage a strop. Just being my usual, very cautious self <g>. I know many guys have lathers the latigo strops but then again they are saturated with oils and waxes already so are fairly unharmed by moisture. Natural tooling leathers and my Honey Brown have no treatment other than tanning and will soak up water like a sponge.
Tony
I clean and care for all my leather products from boots to jackets to strops. Saddle soap and water for cleaning is what I use mostly, although I have used lather to no ill effects on strops. Neatsfoot oil and mink oil I use to restore the oils removed by cleaning or lost through aging. The mink oil also makes leather products water resistant. Too much water is obviously not good but if allowed to dry out and then reconditioned you should be OK. By the way, when I use lather to clean my strops I rinse it with water, let it dry, and then recondition it, I dont allow the lather to remain on the strop.
What technique do you use to rinse the strop without letting too much water soak in?Quote:
Originally Posted by JMS
I go over it with a damp rag several times until there is no slipperyness and then I blot it with a dry towel. The rag should be rinsed between wipings.Quote:
Originally Posted by matt
I have Lathered and pumiced 3 of the TM strops I have (honey brown, 2 Latigos) with no ill effect. Wetting leather has no detrimental effect on leather as long as it is allowed to dry at a low even temperature. Following the drying process with dressing is advised but be sure to use very small amounts. I apply dressing to the reverse side on a lathered strop so that I don't spoil the surface I just spent ages preparing diligently.
Leaving the lather on the strop, I take to mean that you don't flush away with fresh water but wipe off the excess? I just wipe off and not rinse, followed by the bottle treatment to smooth out. Leaving the lather on the surface in an uneven coating would not be advised by me at all.
All the TM strops I have done this to have responded very well but I hesitate to advise others with less experience to try it. Perhaps this could be offered as a service by some willing patron to this forum? :)
This type of dressed strop imo has a lot of merit and should not be disscounted from the "strop dressing arsenal".
PuFF
Puffah,
Thanks for the update. Glad this works well for you. I'm just being careful as I don't know what effect it may have.
Take care,
Tony
As a foot note to my post, perhaps it should be advised to test types of dressing to a leather belt or the like before trying it on a TM or other brand of strop. Gaining experience with the process on less valued items is a wiser approach.
Tony, your Honey brown strop came up fantastic with this method and I would not part with it now over all my other strops. Latigo gets a finish that just excels as a pre-strop and finishes harder steels better than most.
As you would expect, a certain amount of stretch takes place so I would not advise this to anyone not willing to accept the outcome and be prepared to rectify the strop them selves. If you go beyond the advise given on the purchase of a strop then the responsibility is on you the user to live with the results. TM does not recommend anything beyond using his strops as they come.
PuFF
Typing seriously here and from a typical position of ignorance, I suspect that the barbers of old who advocated (used) lather to treat their strops were doing so to clean the leather. They likely used their strops much more than we do and from time to time needed to clean off accumulated dirt and swarf, and they used the tools at hand, e.g. lather. While other leather implement uses such as farmers and ranchers would use saddle soap, barbers would use lather which contained perhaps some of the things in saddle soap. I also suspect they used lather on their strops occasionally rather than regularly.
I treat my strops with applications of vigorously rubbed palm - not the tree, not the oil, rather the unit attached to the end of my arm. Perhaps in the years to come I may wish to clean the strop with something - maybe lather, but as a regular discipline I think it is not needed. Oil soaked leather (and soaps contain oils) gets limp and loses its shape and that shape is what we depend on for being able to strop a razor's delicate edge well and predictably.
So from one newly into this affair of the edge, but one who has opinions on nearly everything, take this for what you think it is worth: the strops as they come from a good source probably won't need an amateurs help for a long time.
opinion 8612, Bruce
Bruce, your opinion is worth as much as mine.
Pumice and lather is an infrequent dressing for a strop not done for years between, but is imo a preparation for a new strop and to revive an old strop.
A soft flexible strop is what I find to be the best. You are correct that an over oiled strop is useless but this is not from a deformation perspective but more from a surface texture and draw stand point. Over oiled strops will not lose their shape or go limp due to the user constantly tensioning the strop in use, where as Stiff strops have to be stropped on with care as they do not conform to a razors profile so readily. Your use of the palm rubbing method is by far the best treatment for any strop and for the beginner the strop will be in most cases fit for purpose from new without the need for any treatment.
PuFF
Bruce,
Good thought on the cleaning thing. That's part of it. My barber manual recommends using the lather as a treatment or as a cleaning method.
Actually, it recommends treating it with lather, then rubbing it with pumice, then rubbing it with a bottle... Repeat several times.
So far I've just tried the lather. :)
Josh
I've been fortunate enough to discover this because I glued leather on the back of a barber hone and consequently got lather on it. I just put a bit of oil/dressing on it and rub it in, other than darkening no problems.
I personally would not recommend lathering a strop like mine. It seems the leather is darker, and the draw seems to have suffered. I had a difficult time stropping up a couple razors in the past few days. I am hoping this will get better with time but in the process I have nicked the strop about 5 times:mad::ziplip:
I pumiced them down but it still makes me a little irritated.
What was the reason for you dressing your strop and what strop is it?Quote:
Originally Posted by matt
I would say that a colour change is to be expected when you apply any dressing to a leather strop. Draw can be made worse or better depending on how you performed the dressing. Leaving too much soap on the leather can make it very sticky and feel like there is a lot of draw. Rinsing the soap completely away will leave the leather feeling surface hardened and with little or no draw. hardened leather fault can be rectified with a light application of leather feed (mink/neatsfoot/lanolin-whitespirit)
A full dressing is normally only used to correct the surface of the strop (bumps/wrinkles/glazing etc), there is no need to do this if the surface on the strop is flat and correct. Yes, lather can be used to clean the surface the same as saddle soap and this I can't see causing a problem unless the residue was left on the strop to dry.
I hope your strop recovers to the point where you like it Matt. When you grow attached to a strop it is hard live with the change made to it by applying a new treatment. Figers X'd for you Matt.
PuFF
My nephew got something on the strop and made it sticky and grey in a spot. I cleaned it up with some lather and pumice, but after that I nicked it up some. IT is a TM 3 inch honey brown strop. I believe it is cowhide.