Thread: Seriously messed up!What do I do!?

Okay no excuses, but I just did this to my strop this morning, not once but repeatedly. I thought my stropping technique was good, but today out of the blue I made several superficial nicks to my strop (they looked like really thin pieces of tomato skin) to my strop, one of them rather long. I would post pics, but do not know how yet, pics have been taken however. In this case what should I do? Do they affect stropping (I assume so), should I take a pumice stone to it, and if so would one sold in the bath section of a store suffice? Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Noticeably I'm freaking out a bit.

Many thanks,
Serg

Well, it really depends how deep it is. If its really superficial you can use some really fine sandpaper or a pumice stone but not a stone made for your garden or filing nails. It has to be a flat really fine grained stone. Classic Shaving sells them.

Of course if its deep and really long and in the middle of your strop the strop may be toast however I would try to repair it before tossing it.

Depends on how bad... If they're just "tomatoe skin" knicks/slices as you described then it's probably goin to be superficial/asthetic damage. If you have very thin "flaps" left then you'll want to remove them. As flush as possible. What you want to be left is (hopefully small, shallow) divots entirely below the rest of the surface. Then don't worry about it. Your razor will simply glide over the top. Ideally, it shouldnt' feel bumpy or anything when stropping. Even if it does I don't think it matters all that much. Don't panic.

Removing the dings from sight will be more difficult...
Your mental scars are probably permanent and can't be fixed.

I did the same thing to my first strop as well. I was really getting comfortable stropping and was getting my speed up. Speed was my problem. I've since relearned my technique and I'm still able to use the old strop as the nicks were at the far end. It's just another notch on the belt so to speak.

Well I did it. I rubbed a pumice stone all over the strop to make it even, followed by some 1200 grit sandpaper. And touched up with some neatsfoot oil from SRD. I'll post pics when I learn how. Now my strop is a little darker than before and after stropping I find some really light debris on the spine of my razor. I had made sure to completely clean it with some makeup sponges, and added the oil by only putting oil on one sponge one time and using it for the entire strop. Also the draw appears to be a little more than before and when I strop I find some spots have a different color than others. Did I completely mess up my strop?

Thanks,
Serg

Well done on getting it back. It's probably fine. They are pretty tough.
If there's too much oil on it you can draw some out with tissue & a cool iron. Be careful. You don't want much heat or you'll cook it!

The easiest way to post pictures is to scroll down to beneath where you're typing the reply.
Click manage attachments.
Click browse.
Choose the file or photo from your PC.
Click submit.
It may take a little while to upload, but just leave it & it'll get there.

Carefully cut away the flaps and rub the affected area with a pumice stone.

X

You've probably completely restored it! The draw will be greater because it's probably got a lot more oil than it had new. Unless you got way too much on there it won't make any difference other than ... it will have more draw. Note: draw is not directly correlated to how the strop functions. The spots are cosmetic. The leather may not be perfectly even in density and will absorb the oil at different rates when applied, there may have been a little more moisture in spots when you applied the oil, etc. It all sounds good.

I've been following Lynn's advice for some time now. Before using your strop, rub it vigorously with the palm of your hand until you feel some warmth. It brushes off whatever dust, etc. may be on there and conditions it at the same time with the tiny bit of natural oils on your skin. The surface stays completely supple and buttery smooth.

Thanks gents, once again you have helped give me a big sigh of relief. As for the pics, I'll have to work on it as my home computer (on prehistoric dial-up) does not allow for the "manage attachments" option. I'll work on that though.

Serg

You have missed an excellent opportunity to purchase another one or two new strops. Every time you break any of your shaving gear, or something runs out, is an opportunity to replace it with another two. This is the process by which our collections of shaving gear multiplies.