Thread: Strop restorations

Evening chaps,

I picked up some old strops in a box of old stuff from a long-gone barber's shop. Before I go in heavy-handed, I'm wondering what the thinking on restoration in the forum is.

Here is the haul:


The hanging strop is some sort of napped leather, with fabric on the back. Both sides are in pretty poor shape and dirty. On the plus side, the leather is amazingly not too dried out and looks salvageable. However, there are a few loose threads in the cotton/linen on the back, and some serious nicks in the leather: I'm thinking first glue up the nicks with leather cement, then clean the leather with saddle soap, then start the process of moisturising. Is that a reasonable order of service?

Then there is the paddle strop. It is an interesting one, it has a leather side and a sprung wooden side:


With this one, maybe just clean and condition the leather, but what about the wooden side? It is designed to be used simply as plain wood? Luckily, the wood still has a surprising amount of spring in it.

Finally, the loom strop:


This one is in the worst shape of all, there are some big nicks in the leather, the leather feels very dry and hard, and the fabric is dirty and worn. Would I be looking at taking them both off and re-tensioning them?

Thanks!