Save my strop? And also surface texture.

I've been straight shaving for a couple of years now and I seem to have a routine that works well for me and my razors but one thing that's been worrying me is my strop.

It's the first (except for a short stint with a smiliar model which met its end when it fell in the bath) and only one I've ever had (unpasted/oiled leather on one side, white paste on linen on the other - very standard), but it's certainly showing the signs of an unexperienced shaver. The linen side is fine but the leather is covered in nicks, cuts, gashes, etc. I try to keep strokes to the centre of the strop and still seem to get a good shave but I'm wondering whether I could be damaging the edge and if I should get a new strop?

Another alternative could be repairing the strop but some of the cuts are pretty deep (and mangled).

If I did get a new strop, would it be worth hanging on to the old one for use with abrasive pastes? I have a small leather paddle strop but find it a little small to be useful.



Another slightly unrelated question is about whether or not to oil/paste (non abrasive) the leather side. My first strop (which you'll recall met its untimely end in the bath) had a leather side, into which i massaged a little non-abrasive paste (kind of looked like grease in a little white and yellow tube). This gave the strop a slightly shiny, glassy finish. When I got my current strop, I decided to leave the leather side bare as it had a slightly matt and almost suede finish which I think might have slightly higher friction and be better at dragging the edge into shape? Any thoughts on this? For info, I paste the linen side of my strop with non-abrasive white paste.

Sorry for the long post, hopefully can look forward to some insightful answers!

My instincts tell me, if it works don't screw with it. It might look bad from nicks and gashes, but from what you tell us, it desn't seem to have any effect on the quality of your razors edge or the shave it produces. I wouldn't change a thing until you notice a sharpness problem.
You might want to put some Neets Foot Oil on the back of the strop and let it soak in to keep it soft. Other than that, I would do nothing different.

Enjoy!

Ray

You can repair the cuts with rubber cement and take out the nicks with some sandpaper or pumice stone.

Here's a wiki with a few tips.

Strop treatment and repair - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Good luck. :)

As keenedge noted pumice stone. If you have any flaps gluing them down with contact cement is what I've done with complete success. I say if you're confident in your stropping now treat yourself to a brand spanky new strop and after you fix the surface on your beater strop paste it. Another arrow in the quiver.