Thread: Question on a brand new strop

I have a brand new strop. As I started to use it I was very careful and didn't want to cut it. The very first problem I had was a tiny flake of material coming off the surface. When I say tiny, I mean smaller than the point of a pencil. I almost think it was a tiny fleck of dye or polish?

I took a little oil off the side of my noise and rubbed over the flake. It just disappeared. This happened twice more. Hmmm? So I took a little dab (quarter the size of a pea) of strop dressing, smeared it the length of the strop, and rubbed it in with my palm and let the strop dry over night.

The next day, I went back to stropping. I've been very careful to keep the spine on the edge, come to a complete stop, roll, and start back; all very slowly.

Still on one cycle I didn't exactly get a cut. I got a line about a quarter of an inch long that looked like it could become a cut. So I took a little dab of Ballistol and coated the strop. The line disappeared. I let it dry over night. Ballistol claims to be mult-purpose: lubricates, penetrates, cleans, protects, and preserves leather (and a bunch of other stuff).

So I went back to stropping, and indeed the strop felt more supple and the draw was a bit less. Also after a hundred cycles, I have no flecks or lines -- the strop looks brand new still.

The blade bevel is very shiny and easily tree tops hair on my arm and it shaves just great. So finally my question!

Do I need to do some sort of leather conditioning on a new strop before using it?


Best,

Ed