Thread: Strop lost its draw

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I've never tried that but many of the old barbers did it and some of the old barber manuals recommended it. Here is an old thread on that topic. Check out Honedright's posts. He was experienced at conditioning a strop like that. OTOH, IIRC Neil Miller wasn't in favor of the method ?

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ing-strop.html

Old strops and old shaving soap formulations are not the same as we have today. The soap had to be tallow rich, for instance - most shave soaps, with the possible exception of Williams are not, and even the new version of Williams is not the same as the old.

Disregarding the actual surface (ie, dispensing with bottling the strop to smooth it or using pumice stone to abrade it, etc) what is basically happening during lathering is that a measured amount of water is entering the leather and being trapped there by the oils in the shave soap. Leather fibres are long and contain moisture when newly tanned - the moisture is lost as the strop ages, and in extreme cases cracking, crazing and curling occur. This is because the fibres contract more and more as they lose moisture.

However, before we reach that stage - which quite frankly is irreversible, the fibres can take on more moisture - hence the practice of lathering. Saddle-soaping performs the same end. If you cannot get a tallow rich soap, ball-up a rag with a few drops of neatsfoot oil on it and briskly rub it into the lathered and wiped-off strop - this will retain the moisture. It might increase the draw a fair bit though.

Sometimes the only thing at fault is the accumulated metal deposits, etc, on the surface of the strop. Lathering is a rather extreme way of removing this. A simpler method is to use a damp rag and scrub the hell out of the surface. Sometimes that is all it takes.

Strangely enough, on some leathers the damp rag technique increases the draw, while on others it decreases it. Oily latigo (the old type that was used for a lot of strops with heavy draw) get a lot of balled-up muck smeared on them - the oils rise to the surface with stropping and form a black, waxy, sticky paste that makes the razor nearly stick to the leather. Some bridle leathers do this too. With these, rubbing with a damp rag actually decreases the draw significantly, but you have to keep rubbing until the rag stops getting discoloured. On newer latigos that are firmer and less oily the reverse is often true - the draw increases slightly.

Knowing what sort of leather you have is important. Some latigos do not respond at all well to lathering. Some leathers, especially the dense, thick ones that are a bit stiff have a surface that is nigh-on impenetrable, even neatsfoot oil tends not to soak into this type. Some, that are top-dyed rather than tub-dyed, give off huge amounts of the dye stuff and look a pretty sorry state afterwards.

I would only use lathering and bottling on an old strop that was cheap - sometimes its a kill or cure thing. For something you have paid good money for, the least invasive techniques are the ones to go for - like the damp rag. It might not cure matters, but it wont turn into a catastrophe either.

Regards,
Neil

Do not think any latigos respond to the lather bottle program.I do know my vintage shells love it.
Makes them far more supple.
Than we have the topic of Draw which is mearly a feeling,more draw/less draw.Anyone actually believe or can prove that more or less draw has any effect on a razors edge? I think not.

Personally I don't like a lot of draw. Five or six years ago I got a couple of latigo strops from a couple of different vendors and I didn't like either of them because of the heavy draw. Felt like the razor was going to be snatched out of my hand. When SRD came out with the premium 1 that was just right for me. That and horse/shell are my preference. I have a few vintage shell strops and they are quite nice. Never did the lather thing on any and probably won't. Never felt the need.

I like a light draw, but have always felt draw was a matter of personal preference and has no effect on the quality of the finished edge.

I feel like my Latigo strop has decreased draw over the past year. The surface appears to have an irregular sheen (shiny in places and dull even slightly suede-looking in others), but I like the performance it offers.

I don't overthink the strop. Some guys collect strops and espouse one over the other. I think one good strop that you break in and learn to get great results with is all a guy needs.

As always YMMV

My latigo strop eventually accumulates an uneven film of crud that affects draw. I taKe a slightly damp wash cloth and scrub the crud off which restores the normal level of draw and keeps it even over the strop length. I let the wiped surface dry for awhile before use. It is never really wet, just slightly damp.

HTH

I'm just guessing, but I imagine the grain of the leather can "load up" just like a hone can, and lose some of its friction. Maybe cleaning the strop gently with saddle soap, and then a very light treatment with a good leather oil?

On the other side, once I cleaned a strop and felt it "lost its draw" but noticed it still kept a very nice edge on the razor anyhow, so i decided I didn't care. After a while, that resistance and frictiony feel we call "draw" seemed to come back.

If it produces a smooth shaving edge on a correctly honed razor, i'd not worry about it.

Age old questions,what does draw really mean?? why do people get fixated on Draw?? is more draw better?? is less draw worse??
Draw, like love is just a feeling,nothing more, nothing less.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Age old questions,what does draw really mean?? why do people get fixated on Draw?? is more draw better?? is less draw worse??
Draw, like love is just a feeling,nothing more, nothing less.

"You boys gonna DRAW those pistols or whistle dixie?"

Actually this is a pretty nice metaphor… next time I feel too old and decrepit to do something, I'm gonna say

"Hey, this old strop has lost his draw"

and let the listeners figure it out!