Sort of on the same subject...
I tried an experiment, and it worked (at least this one time). I had this razor (a Globemen 5/8) that was giving me fits. There were no issues with the razor itself, as it's a German-made Bergfeld & Sohn, and is near mint condition. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get it to pass the HHT. Anyway, I made a new strop 3-4 days ago, and used one of the first ones I made for this experiment. I dismantled it, using the D-rings and the Chicago screws for my new strop. I then used Metal-Glo polish (about the same as Maas), and coated the old strop with it. I let it dry, then attached it to the back of another of my strops, kinda like a linen strop. I did 30 round trips on the "pasted" strop, then 20 round trips on my new strop. The razor passed the HHT with ease! And I was using one of my kids' hairs, taken from a brush. Not that it's that interesting, but I thought I'd pass this along. Maybe it'll work for somebody else, too.