Thread: How far from usable is this strop?

Whatever you do and the above comments may all be good. Remember it took years to get into that condition. It will a while to get it right.
I have one I have been putsing with for a year but, it is coming to life. the joy of the ones I have saved has more than offsett the slow going!
~Richard

How far from usable is this strop?
That depends, how far from me are you.....

Some great advice above my post.
One thing I have diligently and repeatedly noted in my experience with this sport/hobby/method is time and patience reaps rewards.

So I emailed the seller, to enquire about the condition of the strop and he mention that the lather still supple. So hopefully it will be salvageable. I am going to be patient. Since you guys recommended pure neatsfoot oil I ordered some online. Hopefully within a couple of months I have seen brand new working strop. After noticing how hard it is to get a russian shell in good condition I am going to hoard a few just to be safe.

Here is another question
Is vinegar the way to go to clean mold? The reason I ask is because vinegar is acid and I use vinegar to age porcelain before throwing scuttles etc. In this instances an acid environment allows for mold to grow and break down porcelain particles making it more plastic. I have read alcohol is another option, what do you guys think? A commercially available leather cleaner could be the safest, but which one?

For leather cleaning I use Bick leather Cleaner. It's kind of a gel and is the same Ph as leather and contains no petroleum products.

I wouldn't soak in oil of any kind. With water it will dry clean by itself and then you can add the appropriate amount of oil afterwards. if you soak with oil and it's successful then you have to get all that oil out.

Originally Posted by rocarule

Here is another question
Is vinegar the way to go to clean mold? The reason I ask is because vinegar is acid and I use vinegar to age porcelain before throwing scuttles etc. In this instances an acid environment allows for mold to grow and break down porcelain particles making it more plastic. I have read alcohol is another option, what do you guys think? A commercially available leather cleaner could be the safest, but which one?

We used another personally produced product to accelerate mold growth in many of the ceramic clay bodies.
I would not use any alcohol on leather, nor would I use steam because of a bad experience doing it long ago. The leather shattered due to inherent dryness. I have heard of using naphtha for removing oil.
~Richard

Household white viniger is 5% acid, about the same as lemon juice which would also work.
You need to kill the mold spores first,than proceed.Just a wipedown.

Already cleaned did saturated the area with pure neatsfoot oil

That looks just superb! Did you strop with it, yet?

Ah, looks great.. it's coming along nicely! Slow is good.



rs,
Tack