Thread: Lather in strop

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

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,

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?

Bruce

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