last fall, i moved to the mountains outside of taipei, about 100 miles north of the tropics. before i moved, i kept my strops in the bedroom and never had a problem. but now that i live in this new place, i've had never-ending problems with mold on my strops. my regular-use tony miller strop is fine, but the three other strops (dovo wide, pasted dovo regular, and 2" dovo best russian) generate mold like nobody's business, usually within two weeks if left untouched.

for what it's worth, none of the other leather stuff (shoes, belts, bags) in our house has had problems... and as far as cleaning the strops, i rub tom's of maine shaving paste into the strop and then wipe down with a clean dry rag, followed one day later with strop paste.

first question: has anyone else had similar problems, and if so how did you solve them?

second question: since i use the 2" best russian least of all, it's got the worst mold problem. at which point would the strop be considered a lost cause? it's a shame to think of having to toss it even if i hardly use it anymore.

thanks,
jake pollock
taipei, taiwan