Originally Posted by
sffone
I've made a number of strops and I've made two using the Tandy leather you mentioned. On both of them I ended up using 220 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper (used dry) to get rid of the glassy surface. One I left as it was, the other I put neatsfoot oil on. Both worked well. Perhaps the slick, un-sanded surface would work well enough; because, as has been pointed out, some of the old barber strops were quite hard and slick. I have a couple that are like glass. But I prefer a bit more draw which is why I sand the surface of the strops that I make out of natural leather. The strops I make from latigo work well without any surface treatment.