Thread: Bad strop?

I'm pretty new to straight razor shaving, so I just picked up a no-name strop from ebay. All it says its that its from pakistan.

There's a white side, which looks like some sort of imitation leather, and not anything like linen or canvas, which from what i understand, is on most strops.

The leather side is what worries me the most though. The leather seems to be bowed, or bent. Not length wise, but width wise, so the leather is warped, no matter how tight i pull it. When I run the blade along this side, it doesn't touch flat to the entire width of the strop.

I've tried conditioning the leather and rolling a glass bottle over it to try to flatten it, but ive had no luck.

I've stopped using it for now, and i've been using newspaper for the time being.
Should I get a new strop, and if so, what's a good strop at a relatively inexpensive price?

I feel your pain bro. Do have a strop style in mind. Send me a PM, I might be able to help you out.

Originally Posted by CaptainTex

I'm pretty new to straight razor shaving, so I just picked up a no-name strop from ebay. All it says its that its from pakistan.

There's a white side, which looks like some sort of imitation leather, and not anything like linen or canvas, which from what i understand, is on most strops.

The leather side is what worries me the most though. The leather seems to be bowed, or bent. Not length wise, but width wise, so the leather is warped, no matter how tight i pull it. When I run the blade along this side, it doesn't touch flat to the entire width of the strop.

I've tried conditioning the leather and rolling a glass bottle over it to try to flatten it, but ive had no luck.

I've stopped using it for now, and i've been using newspaper for the time being.
Should I get a new strop, and if so, what's a good strop at a relatively inexpensive price?

Hey bud...sorry to hear you made the same mistake I made. I bought one of those from ebay a while back thinking it was a good idea to stay low cost initially. If you purchased it from the same guy I did he will take it back if you are not happy with it. I would suggesting buying one of the starter strops from Tony Miller which are around $30:

http://shop.thewellshavedgentleman.com/main.sc

However, he is currently closed for vacation so you might have to wait a little while.

Best,

Allen