Thread: Restore or Buy New

Hello all! I am a newbie looking to begin SR shaving (I use a DE safety at the moment). A few years ago my father gave me a strop that was used by his dad. It is two strops. The first is leather, finished the same on both sides. The markings at the top say "Our Challenge" "Russian Shell". At the bottom is imprinted: Imported Leather, 500, Finished Ready For Use. The markings on the linen strop is Genuine Linen, Joe.Salladay & Co, Oklahoma City, OKLA. B-258. ( I have looked and that company no longer exists) The strops appear to be in good shape, with a nick in one side of the leather strop. I am sure the leather will need to be reconditioned before use. I do not know if the linen needs to be reconditioned or even how to do that.

So, my question is: Is it worth the time and trouble to recondition one or both strops, or just purchase a new one and relegate this one as a display somewhere with a really cool story that goes with it? If you reply and recommend reconditioning, what specific product/procedure do you recommend I use to accomplish this task? And, as long as I am here, do you recommend using a strop paste whether I restore or buy new? If so, what exactly does strop paste do, does the SR hold a better edge with or without it, and if you recommend strop paste please advise what brand/kind I should purchase. Remember I am new to this SR idea so I want to start slowly with good basic equipment. I already have the brush, jar and cream I prefer. It also appears I will probably purchase a DOVO razor. Just about every review I read states this is one of the best razors to start with.

With any heirloom advice should be taken wisely. There are plenty of threads on restoring/repairing strops. It's not hard to fix what you describe but it's not hard to screw up either. The markings on the linen will disappear with an overnight soak but scrubbing everything else and rinsing is okay. The thing is you don't want to learn on a piece of family history be it use or restore.
Most beginners will nick a strop a few times and that hurts when you do it on an expensive strop. Yours is priceless. Get my point ?

Without pics it would be bad advice no matter. Cleaning leather can be a simple process if it really needs it. Is the leather dry or has it been treated and put away well or has it been wet and rode hard.

Learning to strop has enough challenges as it is IMO :<0)

You have a ton of questions but my short answer would be , buy an inexpensive strop and progress as you learn.

I'm with Jerry on this. The answer is of course both. Buy a new one and use it until some day further down the road when you can restore the old one and use it periodically. Pics are truly the best way to judge the condition.

Sounds like a good strop many of us would look for to use. I would definitely restore it. There are heaps of threads about restoring leather and linen strops and using the search will get you heaps of info. I agree starting with another strop is a good idea or you are likley to damage a heirloom