Help, save a strop!!

I need to know if I've ruined a strop. Lynn's DVD came yesterday, along with a 3.5"w strop. After watching the DVD and buying some strop oil, I went to work. I CrOx'd the smooth, lighter side of the strop and oiled the darker, heavier-grained side. Afterwards I thought the side I thought was for daily stropping looked rough and so I checked with the vendor and, yes, it's a one-sided strop. I rushed to get the CrOx off. The only thing I had immediately to hand was liquid hand soap, so I used that. That seemed to penetrate the leather after I got the chromium off, so I used saddle soap hoping to pull it out. Didn't work, as near as I can tell. Also used lots and lots of water. Did a final scrub with Fast Orange (yes, I'll take my lumps) because of its degreasing abilities. Right now it's hanging on my wall drying while I figure out if I've just wasted 70 bucks or not. The leather isn't physically damaged, except if it's too saturated to be of use. Any ideas or help on a resurrection?

:cry:
Ouch.

Let's hope Tony Miller catches this and knows how to fix it.
Other people have posted on SRP about how they molested their strop, but I think you're the champ.

It's a recognizable situation. A disastrous spiral of things going from bad to worse, no matter what you try, and the worst of all is that you fully realize what is happening while the disatrous events unfold themselves. There just doesn't seem a way back...
Just to say: been there, done that (although not to a strop).

All the best,
Bart.

Bummer. While I've never soaked a strop before I have dunked a few boots, saddles, chaps, and belts in my time.

My recommendation would be to make your final cleaning attempt with saddle soap and perhaps weight the strop by putting something on it so it dries flat. Sometimes wet leather when left to its own devices will sometimes curl when drying. Once it's thoroughly dry (this may take a few days) just condition it with some oil (neatsfoot, mink, Lexan, etc.) or strop dressing on both sides...it may take more than one application depending on how much oil you sucked out while cleaning.

Don't worry...most decent leather is almost indestructible and I'm sure you can bring it back to a useful condition.

:rant: Well, it's good to know there's still a chance. Getting it flat to dry won't be a problem, neither will the neatsfoot once it is dry. Man, this really sucks.

One thing I forgot (it's been a while since I've had to de-water any of my leather stuff) in my original post is a trick someone showed me once.

If you have one of those new-fangled micro fiber cloths you can wrap in it that and squeeze under light pressure and the cloth will literally wick the moisture away. If it was my strop I'd wrap it and put it between a couple heavy boards (so it doesn't curl) and check it every day until it's dry.

My advice would be to make sure it drys quickly. You don't want mold to begin to form. I would do what Tex said there and absorb as much of the moisture as possible, maybe a high absorption towel on it, then you standing on the towel and the strop. Then if it's warm enough out, let it dry, or run some air past it. Maybe a blow dryer on an air setting?

I would just let it dry slowly by itself and then once that happens you can access the situation. Worse comes to worse you could use it as a pasted strop so all is not lost. You may find once its dry that its fine.

Thanks for the help, guys, but I lost it tonight. Had it between towels with wood on top for a flat surface. I checked it about an hour ago and for some reason, in spite of the weight, there's a spot about the size of a silver dollar that wrinkled up like an American football (not to be confused with a reall football) about a third of the way up. So... I'm going to wait until payday and see if I can get a replacement. Live and learn.

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Originally Posted by maplemaker

Thanks for the help, guys, but I lost it tonight. Had it between towels with wood on top for a flat surface. I checked it about an hour ago and for some reason, in spite of the weight, there's a spot about the size of a silver dollar that wrinkled up like an American football (not to be confused with a reall football) about a third of the way up. So... I'm going to wait until payday and see if I can get a replacement. Live and learn.

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I'm sorry to hear that but don't give up hope just yet. I seem to remember that there is a remedy for this problem too. Trouble is it's been a couple decades since I've fooled with leather and I don't remember the exact procedure. You might try a Google search and see what comes up or if there's a saddle shop or Tandy Leather Company store in your area you might discuss it with them as they would probably know what to do.

Good luck!

I'll try Tandy today. Don't have anything to lose with that. Thanks.

Was it a Dovo Xtra wide strop then? Bummer on the experience you had.

Once it's dry, you could try rubbing 220 grit or even 400 grit sandpaper over a flat block back and forth lightly on the strop surface. You have nothing to lose at this point.

For whatever strop you do get to replace this one, don't apply chromium oxide to the strop you're going to use for daily pre-shave stropping. Especially for a hanging strop. Chromium Oxide is an amazing animal in its effectiveness at polishing steel. So much so, that stropping on chrome daily is not only unnecessary, it very easily could be detrimental to your edge. Even the small amount of slack inherent in hanging strops can round your edge if you aren't careful when stropping on a chrome ox hanging strop.

Chrome ox should be used to refresh rather than as a daily regimen.

Chris L

I was thinking the exact same thing with the sandpaper but wait for it to dry and see what it looks like.

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Originally Posted by Chris L

Was it a Dovo Xtra wide strop then? Bummer on the experience you had.

Once it's dry, you could try rubbing 220 grit or even 400 grit sandpaper over a flat block back and forth lightly on the strop surface. You have nothing to lose at this point.

For whatever strop you do get to replace this one, don't apply chromium oxide to the strop you're going to use for daily pre-shave stropping. Especially for a hanging strop. Chromium Oxide is an amazing animal in its effectiveness at polishing steel. So much so, that stropping on chrome daily is not only unnecessary, it very easily could be detrimental to your edge. Even the small amount of slack inherent in hanging strops can round your edge if you aren't careful when stropping on a chrome ox hanging strop.

Chrome ox should be used to refresh rather than as a daily regimen.

Chris L

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Yeah, I was only hitting the CrOx every two or three days for less than 10 laps. I went to Tandy to see what could be done (I tried some sanding this morning) and ended up with a new piece of 3"w leather, rivets and the riveting tool, all for 45 and some change. I drilled the old rivets out, cut the leather holding the ring and the handle to the strop off, contact cemented them to the new leather, tapped new holes, and riveted. YAY! NEW STROP! I left it a little longer than the original, too, just for personal preference. It looks a little like Frankenstein's monster, but it works. Yes, it was a Dovo. I guess now it's a Faux-vo???

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Originally Posted by maplemaker

Yeah, I was only hitting the CrOx every two or three days for less than 10 laps. I went to Tandy to see what could be done (I tried some sanding this morning) and ended up with a new piece of 3"w leather, rivets and the riveting tool, all for 45 and some change. I drilled the old rivets out, cut the leather holding the ring and the handle to the strop off, contact cemented them to the new leather, tapped new holes, and riveted. YAY! NEW STROP! I left it a little longer than the original, too, just for personal preference. It looks a little like Frankenstein's monster, but it works. Yes, it was a Dovo. I guess now it's a Faux-lo???

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Good job. It's fun to make your own strop for the experience. I've made a handful in both cowhide and horsehide myself and will be putting them up for sale in the classifieds soon. The key and the difficulty in making a good strop is the finish and/or quality of the surface.

Chris L

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chris L

Good job. It's fun to make your own strop for the experience. I've made a handful in both cowhide and horsehide myself and will be putting them up for sale in the classifieds soon. The key and the difficulty in making a good strop is the finish and/or quality of the surface.

Chris L

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Yeah, and this is clean, smooth, and flat. I asked if they had leather that would work for a strap, and they said they used to sell full straps, just not anymore, but they do still carry the leather to make the strap, and that's what I picked up. It was on sale and I got enough on the length of leather they sell to make two straps. I would have done that, but I only have one set of a swivel/handle.

I've had strops that had bad creases in them and what I did was totally saturate the leather in warm water and then let it slowly dry by itself and the crease came out by itself.