Thread: Cleaning my linen strop

My linen strop from SRD was beginning to show some black so i decided to clean it. Easier said than done. I had put green paste on one side which was not that easy to remove. I started out using hot water and shaving soap. then i used hot water and laundry detergent with bleach and a scrub brush. most of the green is gone. when i finished with the soap and bleach i rinsed with hot water and water softener. The black is gone but there is a hint of green left. When it dries i will reassemble and try it out. May end up ordering a new strop. After this i do believe i will not be using the paste again. Now this brings me to a question. if i do order a new linen strop i may also try another leather strop. Currently i use a English bridle leather from SRD and kind of like the draw on it but have been wondering what little more draw would do. The question is what would give me a little more draw than the English bridle leather. Anyone have both and what would it be.

Soak in BIZ for 48 hours,,,, remove,,, rinse well,,, then Colgate toothpaste & fingernail brush on the linen strop,,, this can be done in the shower, makes it easy,,,rinse well,,,, hang dry in a lighted area.

The Latigo will give a little more draw, that's what I started with then went to the English bridle. Then to Roo, loved the slick draw so I got a N.M shell and a Kanayama, almost no draw. Tc

Yup, the Latigo for more draw.

Soaking with a good soap will remove more, but you will probably never remove all of it. I use dollar store cold water soaking solution or Woolite in a Harbor Freight cement mixing tub or an inexpensive plastic, wallpaper wetting tubs from Home Depot.

Scrubbing occasionally with a small softish brush while soaking works, may have to soak for a day or two.

Thanks guys. i cleaned it yesterday and it dried over nite. as suppected and was told not all the green came out but the black did. i re-assembled it and now waiting to try it. I'm kind of a fanatic on some things and may order a new linen any way. I think most know what i mean.

I suspect the linen with just a kiss of Chrome Oxide would be a nice daily strop to just polish the bevel, just a bit.

You can strop on Chrome Oxide daily with no ill effects to the razor, so the amount on your strop would be just fine.

I did notice the linen strop shrunk about 1/2 to 5/8 in. I normally hold both linen and leather strop when stropping now i hold one at a time.

I used a little oxygen bleach and hot water with mine when I went to clean it last. Took the green paste right out of it after a couple of scrub and soak cycles. I'm sure there was some residue, but not enough to hurt anything. I think it's due for another cleaning though, starting to get black again. I think if I get the past out of it this time I won't be putting it back on. It never gets used anyway.

I only used the paste a couple of times. Once i got the 12K naniwa and then the 20K suehiro i found i didn't need the paste at all. I've been pretty lucky. once i got my razors honed all i've needed was a good stropping and then shave. So far i haven't even need to touch up the blades with a hone.

Don't know about current production linen strops. Back in the day it was recommended to avoid water, as much as possible, on a linen strop because it was well known that linen absorbs a tremendous amount of water which swells the fibers and distorts the stropping surface of the linen. Manufactured linen strops were finished to be as flat and smooth as possible. Cleaning was accomplished by applying some lather then scraping off with the blade of a shears or, another method used alcohol and a cloth. But I never read, outside of this forum, a method that included soaking linen in water. I'd be concerned with ruining the stropping surface, and in 37, or so, years of using a straight, I've never soaked a linen strop, and I never will. I can imagine this getting the linen clean, but does it preserve the stropping quality of the strop?