Thread: Strop Restore

Hi

So I found this guy in the antique store and figure i would give it a go
I've finished fixing the metal hanger, have left this a couple of sands before a polish to give it a matt sort of finish.
Going to visit the horse shop and buy some saddle soap and some neatsfoot oil.
There is 1 chip in the leather so i might sand back and get some leather dust and do a patch fix.
The bit i'm most concerned with is the leather that holds the metal hanger, this seems to want to just somewhat disintegrate and i'm hoeping that its just the edges.
otherwise i might need to visit the local shoesmith and get him to sew on a new loop.
Is the oil likely to strengthen this?

I cleaned up an old Mitchell Mogal horse hide strop and used a mechanics waterless handcleaner, the kind with lanolin, not the citrus based ones they have now. It worked a treat getting the gunk out of the leather and the lanolin made short work out of conditioning the dried out leather. I'm pretty sure the brand name was Gunk, but these days it's mostly the newfangled orange/citrus based stuff that I find on the shelves. I just rubbed the cleaner in with my hand and wiped it off with a clean towel. Towel was a goner, but the strop turned out very nice.

As far as strengthening leather, no... .you have what you have, while neatsfoot oil will probably weaken leather slightly, it will make it more supple and thus help prevent additional cracking. In other words, the leather in a straight pull won't be any stronger, but it will bend without cracking and this will help protect from breakage.

Looks like a nice old strop, a leather worker could replace the stitched on loop by the metal hanger, but I'd suggest cleaning/conditioning the leather first and see how it works out. If you can't get the strop back to working condition, paying someone to fix the hanger would not make sense. If conditioning/cleaning works, it might save the bit around the hanger... if it doesn't, at least you know the strop is worth the effort.

[edit] Regarding the chip/nick in the strop.... instead of sandpaper, I'd suggest using pumice stone as it won't damage your razors edge. Plan B would involve a diamond hone that is well used and unlikely to loose grit, unlike sandpaper which would be fresh and very likely to loose some grit during the process. Small divots won't be a problem and don't really need to be filled in... if it's a flap, sure... a bit of contact cement and put it back together... then sand it lightly with a pumice stone or an old diamond hone if it's proud.

Regards

Christian

Awesome thanks
So much valuable info!!

I'm not a leather expert but I have been under the impression that what old dry leather needs more than oil is water.

Oil is a protectant that keeps the moisture in but to restore old leather you first have to rehydrate it. This does not mean dunking it in the sink for hours. Instead, wipe both sides with a slightly damp cloth, leave it sit for 10 minutes, and then wipe it again with a dry cloth. I routinely do this with my strops every few months. For an old strop, I would recommend doing it daily for at least a week and only then would I consider a very light application of neatsfoot oil. I apply the oil by rubbing it in my hands and then rubbing my hands on the strop.

What ever you do with the dried out leather, do it slowly. Put very light coats of oil or conditioner on the leather, and let it soak for at least 24 hours before you put another coat on. Leather has fibers in it that will wick the oils throughout the leather, but it takes time. If you put too much oil on at once, it will become greasy and stay that way. Be careful adding oil to the hanger and the handle, as those are thinner pieces of leather. They will likely get saturated with oil before the strop will. As far as the nick, if there are no rough edges and it is below the surface of the leather, you might not need to fill it in, as your razor won't contact it anyways.

Leather was quite thirsty
Came up quite nice, there is still a notch I need to fix and hopefully the leather holds around the buckle bit.

That strop sure cleaned up nice!

It should give you many more years of great service.

Regards

Christian

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

That strop sure cleaned up nice!

It should give you many more years of great service.

Regards

Christian

Cheers
Keen to find another to restore