Thread: Cleaning up sliced & diced Illinois 127

I was given this estate-sale orphan; it looks like some new shaver really learned some hard lessons on it, once upon a time. I would like to take it as a low-stakes opportunity to practice some strop doctoring.

There is one bad slice, located up near (and partly into) the embossing. I could easily avoid this area when stropping, but would like to repair it if I can. There is also a shallow "flap" located about two inches up from the handle, definitely into the business area of the strop. Above that, there are also a couple of light nicks.

The leather is pretty heavily spotted and streaked, God knows how, but it doesn't feel very dry: it is plenty supple enough to move it around without risking any cracking. The linen wants washing, which I'd like to accomplish without losing the red stamp "Fine Weave Linen Finish."

I have heard of using super glue and also liquid bandaid (Trimmy72's idea). If I sand, I'll want to avoid working sand into the strop, yes? How about suggestions for washing the linen without losing the red stamp? Any and all suggestions welcome. Pics follow.