I can't imagine I'm the only person to have done this: while flipping the razor over at the top of the strop for the downward pass, the edge caught and produced a centimetre-long cut in the leather. It's very thin, and when I drag my finger along the leather, it lifts up like a page from a book. I know it's nothing serious, and I picked half of it off with my finger nail, deciding to simply strop over top of the little bit of damage.

What do you fellas do in these situations?

(Or do you just not damage your strops at all? Heh heh. )

Another thing: my leather is starting to discolour in some spots. Probably where my fingers have touched it. I try to avoid touching the stropping surface, but it happens from time to time.

What's the consensus here? Is a sometimes-nicked, worked in, somewhat discoloured strop the kind of strop to have, or are there ways to keep it in like-new condition?