Thread: How NOT to

I came across this video tonight and honestly I am mortified. I am no expert on strop restoration. I have learned about strop restoration from members of this forum and have successfully brought back to life a handful of old strops using their advice. This video is contrary to everything I have learned. Don't shoot the messenger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKuWHTLsWd4

really???? i mean... where did that come from? ... well i guess it was a good strop while it lasted

wow.. thanks alex for sharing... now, a respectful note for:

NEW USERS looking for maintaining a strop.... what's shown in that video is a big nono!

please, for most strops you get from respectable sellers, they come well conditioned and just need a bit of break in... use them! to speed up the break in if you want, a bit of rubbing your hands every now and then (clean hands.. not after eating chicken wings and pizza :P) will do the trick..

for maintenance just cleaning with a damp microfiber will do!... or every now and then (really, that not often) a couple of drops of oil if you really want to condition and add a bit of draw.

A strop is not the same than a motorcycle seat or a swaddle from a horse... it does NOT need that amount of oil or conditioner! It will normally be in a controlled humidity and temperature environment (inside the house, possibly in your closet or bathroom.. not hours under the sun and heat of the road or in the dry dessert.

If you want to do some additional conditioning cause the strop looks and feel dry, (maybe old or just came from someone else that was not taking care of it) use warm water dampen microfiber.. clean it.. let it wait for a few minutes to let the leather pores open. Then rub a small cotton cloth with just a couple of drops of neatsfoot oil or horse oil... (there are other options like mink oil, i use that for the handles)....

let the oil do it's work for 2 or 3 days.. be patient! and then repeat the process... you will see that most times you will achieve results sooner than you thought..... but this HUGE amount of oil will not help your strop and will mess up the draw...

there are some cases where you need to do some mayor restoration or cleaning to a strop.. that's another topic (and it will NOT involve a heat-gun or two pounds of soap and conditioner)...

but just for maintenance.. please don´t do what is taught in this video!

cheers!

Seems as though my instinct to ignore his videos on FB was spot on.

Why would he not just throw it into the washing machine!
THEN, toss it in a bucket of oil!
Wrong in so many ways.

Gabriel's advise above is spot-on IMO.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Why would he not just throw it into the washing machine!
THEN, toss it in a bucket of oil!
Wrong in so many ways.

Gabriel's advise above is spot-on IMO.

What's wrong with dunking it in oil? I soak mine in used french fry oil at least once a week!

Youtube has a lot of good info but unfortunately anyone with a camera and an account can be an 'expert'. As stated - don't do this. If you have to recondition your strop - there is a lot of good information on this site and you can always ask the folks that do this properly.

As soon as I started the video and saw whose it was, I stopped it. I've watched a few of his others and well, let's just say that he is not a good resource for good information.

I have no idea if he is making this stuff up on his own or if he is re-hashing bad information that he finds from others, but he gets way too much stuff wrong. Number of views does not equate with credibility.

This video and one he has on honing a razor makes me cringe! Please do not do this! Like sharptonn says gabrielcr78 info is spot-on! Take information from people that are respected by people that know what they are talking about. Not just because they have a youtube channel with a lot of views.
Nice simple explanation Gabe!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Why would he not just throw it into the washing machine!
THEN, toss it in a bucket of oil!
Wrong in so many ways.

This sounds like the making of a classic video. With effort, it could be on par with honing on a cinderblock with skim milk.

Originally Posted by Utopian

This sounds like the making of a classic video. With effort, it could be on par with honing on a cinderblock with skim milk.

hahahaha.. that was a funny one... sremember that milk in the brick.. and he punishing the blade against it.. LOL

I’m sorry I watched that video. You know I used to work in the bush, and my leather caulk boots would be exposed to pretty extreme stuff, and that is similar to the stuff we would do with our boots, except the heat gun on high, whoa, a hair dryer on medium is what we used. It is suppose to lightly warm the BOOT leather. He appears to be a mirror another presenter with super aggressive tactics.