Thread: Polishing a leather strop

Hi!

I have bought a new strop, wich is called "Stropzilla" muahahaha!
https://www.etsy.com/nl/listing/2445...remium-xxl-xxw

Now the leather is still very new, soft and, well, "hairy". How can I speed up the proces to make it smooth and shiny?

Thanks in advance!

Hairy?

The leather looks unfinished, perhaps you should contact the maker for his advice.

A razor strop should be smooth already and really not need anything when new.

It is really minimal, my first Herold strop was about the same when it was new. But it took years to make it shiny and performing at it's best. (to my feeling)
I do admit this is a home made strop, but in my country a decent 3" strop was almost impossibly to find. So i took a gamble with this one, and the leather is pretty good and thick, but the finishing isn't..

The listing states it's napped leather, I guess it's kinda like suede. I wouldn't do anything to it, just use it and it will be fine as it is.

I have a vintage strop that had a funky finish on it but was a great thick horse hide leather strop.

I conditioned it over several months with different oils and water to moisturize and make it soft again. It was stiff and dehydrated when I first got it.

I lightly scraped the surface with a sharp cabinet scraper and it raised a fine nap on the face, (Not recommending this for your strop). Not quite suede, but you can see a very fine nap, that changes color slightly as it is stropped on and the nap changes direction.

It is now floppy as a old well washed sock and leaves an awesome finish on the blade. I would wipe it wit a clean damp cloth, once a week or so.

What is important is, how it finishes the bevel than, how it looks. I would still contact the vendor and ask their opinion.

Strops that barbers used eventually became dark and highly polished but that wasn't an intentional thing. That's just what happened after years of daily heavy duty use. Most of us would never see that happen to a strop no matter how much we use it.

Most quality strops sold new have a smooth finish. Some meant for secondary use like the suede kanayama strops are napped on purpose.

You shouldn't have to play with a new strop to get it shave ready.

Russian red strops would be rough side out, as are some of the German strops (Reinleder?!?!?!). These are intended to be used for final stropping, just as the smooth, skin side out strops. Kanayama added a suede strop in some of the models as an intermediary strop between linen and leather. I have a Russian red strop and it is just as good as my English bridal strop.

No need to do anything to that strop, just use it and it will eventually develop a patina. Or... you could buy another strop <evil grin>.

Regards

Christian

Originally Posted by Humanalien

It is really minimal, my first Herold strop was about the same when it was new. But it took years to make it shiny and performing at it's best. (to my feeling)
I do admit this is a home made strop, but in my country a decent 3" strop was almost impossibly to find. So i took a gamble with this one, and the leather is pretty good and thick, but the finishing isn't..

Not even in de Koordenwinkel in Antwerp? I looked at their site and cannot find a strop . I remember once seeing a Filarmonica loom type strop made of suede-like leather that was rougher than the leather on the etsy pictures looks like.
Should be OK. I think you better not use any strop conditioner on the suede as it may harden the "hairs".

Originally Posted by Kees

Not even in de Koordenwinkel in Antwerp? I looked at their site and cannot find a strop . I remember once seeing a Filarmonica loom type strop made of suede-like leather that was rougher than the leather on the etsy pictures looks like.
Should be OK. I think you better not use any strop conditioner on the suede as it may harden the "hairs".

No i don't think so, their webshop only shows different lengths, but no 3" models. Love that store btw.

If you decide to apply anything to this strop, apply it to the back side only. Euclid440 brings up an interesting point of softness/suppleness of the strop. You could probably show us how supple it is, if you balance the leather on one finger and let the ends hang down....