Thread: Cordovan Strop Care

I ain’t scared. I ordered a small bottle for under $10 and will give it a shot on one or two of my shell Cordovan strops. Somebody has to get off the proverbial pot here and try it. If you’re scared stay home.

My Kanayama 90 gets a lot of use and shows this.
Even so it works the same as always.
I used Leatherique in the past and regretted ever messing with it.

One thing to be careful of is when rubbing with a wet cloth, don't use too much pressure or you can break up the surface.

Originally Posted by Steel

I ain’t scared. I ordered a small bottle for under $10 and will give it a shot on one or two of my shell Cordovan strops. Somebody has to get off the proverbial pot here and try it. If you’re scared stay home.

I to ordered a small 3 oz bottle and plan on testing it on a piece of cordovan scrap I have then depending on the outcome I will either use or not use it on the strop

Perhaps shoot an email to Alastair (Westholme strops) and see what he recommends? I know he's not taking new orders for awhile but he might offer some professional insight and recommendations.

https://ashlandleather.com/pages/ash...lishing-method

I do this (without the cream) and it brings back the cordovan to a shine. Adding the cream can change the draw. Same method works great on other leathers as well.

Originally Posted by Steel

I ain’t scared. I ordered a small bottle for under $10 and will give it a shot on one or two of my shell Cordovan strops. Somebody has to get off the proverbial pot here and try it. If you’re scared stay home.

Well I received my bottle yesterday and applied what I call a small amount and let dry to a light haze per the directions then used a cotton cloth to lightly buff then used my horse hair brush to buff, the end result is a leather that has a tad more gloss to it with a tad more slickness due to the small amount of wax it contains, i doubt I will use this often and not because it’s not needed but I just wanted to put some oils back in it that I removed during the light saddle soap wash so overall their are no ill affects to using this product on shell cordovan but since this is what Horween recommends using on there shell which is where this leather was sourced from I figured there would not be but you never know, I took a chance as my pricey strop survived and looks better as a result.

With some use the tad more gloss and slickness will disappear. At least it did when I used carnauba wax.

Bob

I also got my bottle last night. I did the same thing but it was applied to Cordovan shell strops I was restoring and that had therefore been somewhat necessarily abused ie. nicks sanded out or rubbed with bone/glass and wiped repeatedly with a damp cloth. This morning I buffed out the cream and it noticed it had restored some of the original waxes/oils and the draw had returned to normal.
Nick Horween uses this exact cream as the Cordovan is being processed. I knew a small amount wouldn’t ruin the strop or blow up the world. You do need to be careful selecting a cream without turpentine and I would ONLY use Venetian unless otherwise made for strop care.
I am very happy with the results. I have been looking for this exact answer for my restored strops for a LONG time. Thanks jnatcat!

Here is some info on the Venetian shoe cream from the maker, if it’s suggested by Horween to use it then I figure it’s safe to use but use at your discretion gents,

Venetian Shoe Cream | C.A. Zoes Mfg Co | The Shoe Care People Since 1905

Yea, I use the cream on my Cordovan shoes and it works great but a strop ain't shoes.

I'm not bothered by a little dulling. My Raven still works like new and as far as I'm concerned a strop should look well used.(notice I say LOOK only)