Thread: strop with black coating

A while ago I bought a strop off the bay for super cheap, intending it to be my first strop restoration project. The leather was dark but in good condition, so I thought I had done pretty well even though the linen component was missing. Tonight was my first chance to work on it since then.

After swiping it with a damp paper towel and seeing black on the towel, I cleaned it for a while with saddle soap. But the black kept coming off and coming off, it seemed there was no end to it. What I initially thought was a dirty strop now looks to be a strop that is coated or treated with something black. However, since the writing isn't covered up (only faded), I'm guessing it was made that way.

Has anyone heard of a strop like this? What should I do about it, other than keep cleaning it?

The leather is in very good condition - it looks to be very lightly used.

I think you have it cleaned by now. Lots of old shell and horsehide strops were dyed black. Looks good, so not to worry about any black coming off, IMO.
Get on a regimen with a damp towel followed by mink oil a half-hour later and let it sit and soak for a few days. A little on the front and more on the back side. I usually ruin an old microfiber cloth on the damp towel and a folded-up paper towel for the mink oil applied to it and rubbed-in.

Hit it once a week for a while. Roll it both ways, rub it. Less on the front after a few treatments. Just do the back with the mink oil.
As it feels softer and more supple, stop and give it a go.
They take a while to get right. As you think it is getting there, it is there!

Phew! Good to know this wasn't uncommon. Thanks!

So the picture is making me dizzy. It says something shell.


Gonna be a good one. What is the secondary like?

Yeah, it's hard to read, but it says Arab Shell. There was no secondary, so I plan to try and find something. Not sure where one finds such things, though....

just an update: the saddle soap and mink oil have made a pretty incredible difference. After just one mink oil seasoning, the strop is already quite supple. I'll see how it is in a couple weeks, but I doubt I'll need to do more than one more seasoning. This turned out to be a much easier project than I expected! Good thing I have a couple other projects strops ready for some TLC.

When it comes to oiling strops, less is best, IMO.

Neetsfoot seems to be less forgiving than mink to me. I overdid a few with the neetsfoot, but not with the mink oil.
I think the smaller increments/effects with mink oil are easier to control. At least for me.
Have yet to try Slawman's Ballistol. Will try that soon.

I used this strop to shave yesterday. In the end it only needed two sessions with the mink oil (two weeks apart) before the leather was nice and supple. The stropping went really well. It's a pretty fast draw, but it definitely seemed to get the job done! I used a King Cutter that Glen had honed last year, and the shave was very smooth.

This means that I now have 3 functioning strops: English Bridle, Boar and this one (Arab Shell). I'm sure it will take a while for me to learn the different feels of the strops (and probably different uses), but I'm super excited to dive into this!

I'm debating if I should pair one razor with each strop for a while, to get the feel of the individual strops, and to see the longterm effectof each on a razor. Thoughts? Honestly, I'm not sure I'd have the discipline....

One word, Ballistol! ballistol.com

Originally Posted by Slawman

One word, Ballistol! ballistol.com

Yes, I had looked into that after hearing so much about it. But it seems to be pretty expensive to ship to Canada for some reason, whereas mink oil is everywhere, and cheap. And a lot of people on this forum also swear by mink oil. Anyways, it seems to have done the job - I absolutely love using this strop!