Thread: Repairing An Overdressed Strop?

A friend just "bought in" with a brand new 5/8 TI and Dovo strop from The Art of Shaving in San Francisco. He also bought some strop dressing, and I think he may have gone a little overboard with it. The draw felt uneven and very, very heavy.
How does one get a badly overdressed strop back in a usable condition? It would be a shame if his brand-new strop was a complete write-off.

Thanks,
Alexander

Was it oil or actual strop dressing? If its oil getting the excess out is more of a problem. If its typical dressing like fromm it should eventually dry out depending on just how much was put on. With oil try blotting as much up as possible.

I recommend letting the strop rest for quite some time to let the dressing dissipate evenly. Follow this with a cleansing using a good quality saddle soap, mixed to a thick lather (very little water). This soaping should not be over done as it is better to solve the problem not create a new one You can always repeat the process.
I use an old shave brush for this but a small sponge works as well. You could use the bottle treatment at this stage also, there is a FAQ on the site some place.
After all this, it's time to let the strop rest again to dry out. I suggest wrapping it in a tea towel and laying it on a shady window cill. Any cupping etc that may occur can be removed by a firm massage of the leather with the thumbs ( like rolling a cigarette )
Hope this helps.

PuFF

If it's trully over dressed just some plain old lather should restore it. It may be worth letting it thee dressing absorb for a day or two first, if you can wait that long.

Originally Posted by NeitherMightier

How does one get a badly overdressed strop back in a usable condition? It would be a shame if his brand-new strop was a complete write-off.

The best way to deal with an over dressed strop is to use a product that's formulated specifically for leather. I'm partial to Lexol products (which can be bought cheaply at most auto parts stores) but any leather cleaner will work.

You want to be careful not to remove too much oil too quickly and get wrinkles...which is easy to do with some methods I've seen advertised such as heat/microfiber cloth etc.

If the draw is still "sticky" after a good cleaning with a proper leather product put the strop down on a flat surface and rub it with a clean bottle to smooth it out.

Another possible treatment would be to use paper towels and a warm iron. You want to draw out the excessive oils, so putting more goop on may be counter-productive. Mild heat and an absorbant pick-up medium should pull out much of the unneeded dressing.

good luck,

Originally Posted by Bruce

Another possible treatment would be to use paper towels and a warm iron. You want to draw out the excessive oils, so putting more goop on may be counter-productive. Mild heat and an absorbant pick-up medium should pull out much of the unneeded dressing.

good luck,

Have you ever done this? How did you explain this sort of use (and the resulting mess) of your wife's favorite iron?

I suggest you road test this with YOUR strop before offering advice which is almost guaranteed to damage the strop. You could probably sop up the excess oil by soaking the strop in kitty litter too...but I wouldn't recommend it.

How about putting the strop on a hard flat surface and placing an old cotton towel on the strop and then stack a bunch of books on the towel. I imagine a lot of the excess will soaked up after a week or so.

Originally Posted by Bruce

Another possible treatment would be to use paper towels and a warm iron. You want to draw out the excessive oils, so putting more goop on may be counter-productive. Mild heat and an absorbant pick-up medium should pull out much of the unneeded dressing.

good luck,

I have done this with a latigo strop, and it worked great.

I used multiple layers of newspaper, since it's a little tougher and smoother than paper towels, but still absorbs pretty well.

I just used an iron setting on "cotton blends", sandwiched the razor between 4-7 layers of newspaper, ironed for a few minutes and checked it often.

I took my time between sessions, and changed paper as needed until I had it back to it's previous levels of dryness n' draw.

Originally Posted by Bruce

Another possible treatment would be to use paper towels and a warm iron. You want to draw out the excessive oils, so putting more goop on may be counter-productive. Mild heat and an absorbant pick-up medium should pull out much of the unneeded dressing.

good luck,

Originally Posted by AusTexShaver

Have you ever done this? How did you explain this sort of use (and the resulting mess) of your wife's favorite iron?

I suggest you road test this with YOUR strop before offering advice which is almost guaranteed to damage the strop. You could probably sop up the excess oil by soaking the strop in kitty litter too...but I wouldn't recommend it.

I have done it. Just put a piece of kitchen tissue on the strop and a few sheets of newspaper and iron with a medium heat (no steam!). Replace the tissue paper as often as needed. It works well and does no damage to either strop or iron.

If the strop is overdressed with an abrasive compound, you can just rub it off with a cloth. You need to change to cloth to a clean spot very often, and it takes some time, but you can get from a completely overpasted strop to the nice translucent haze you need.

Best regards,
Bart.