Thread: Hanging a strop in a humid bathroom

Originally Posted by Ozarkedger

If your leather is in good shape (fairly new) and you keep it conditioned appropriately there shouldn't be a problem. Just a reminder, barbershops have plenty of humidity in the air throughout the work day. Strops live a longtime in that environment.

That's a great point...well taken...about the barber shops

Pete <:-}

I don't think old time barbershops had high humidity. Outside of a hot towel they didn't run water like a shower. Also from the 1950s on the shops were air conditioned in the summer and over heated in the winter. Probably in areas of high humidity in the summer before air conditioning they would be exposed to moisture but then in the winter they would dry out.

I read in a post by a fellow who said that he was about to purchase a new strop to keep in the bathroom. He said that he would keep an eye on it to see if humidity had any effect. The one he had then, he said, had only been in the bath for 35 or 40 years.

I use to keep mine in the bathroom. But, in my new home I have a large closet where I can hang it from the door knob. I'm pretty sure I'm happier that way.

Regards

Chasmo

My shave den is the basement bath. No fan only a tiny window. The basement is humid all year round. I have not had a problem yet with any of the four strops hanging. I do rotate them and give them a rub for the couple weeks they are in rotation

I keep mine out of the bathroom in a hallway. An ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure.

I keep mine in the corner of the bathroom. I don't believe that humidity will affect the strop that soon and it's not that expensive so....

Mine have hung in the bathroom for yrs,never an issue.

I am fortunate in having a tiny bathroom and a door at each side. The constant movement of air makes it the same relative humidity as the rest of my tiny dwelling. No rusted razors and no ruined strops. It is also the place where I recondition old strops. So the strops are of all ages and conditions. Some I wish had a higher moisture content. They hang on the back of one of the doors and the one in use is hooked at the end of my counter top.
That said, during winters up here, the relative humidity of the whole house may be <20% and summers >60%.
My suggestion is to watch the strop, if it seems stiffer, place it where there is more moisture. Otherwise, do a visual when you think of it.
Enjoy your shaving journey!
~Richard

I try to keep my strop as far from the shower as possible which places it on the back of my door, but with that being said, I have a smaller bathroom that can get pretty steamy at times. So far I have not had any issues, but I never thought about this being a potential problem so I am going to keep a good eye on this. Thanks for the post...good question!

Originally Posted by Obie

Gentlemen,
Just to be safe, I hang my strops on the back of the bedroom door, away from the adjacent shave den where the shower is located, because one never knows how leather will react around humidity.

I agree with Obie..

I keep mine in an adjacent walk-in closet rather than subject them to humidity changes.