Strop Maintenance (Newspaper and bend)

Hi everybody,

When moving, I carefully packed my strop in newspaper and rolled it (not tightly) around something before putting it in a box.
And that wasn't good enough. There's plenty of ink that made it to the leather, and there's still a bend. That doesn't look too bad in practice though.

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My first question... should I bother cleaning it up? How? Baby wipes?
Second question... should I bother flattening it? How? Dictionaries?

P.S. I sort of know the answer for the linen side... I've had the dishwasher-and-dictionaries route suggested to me.

maybe hang some weight on the bottom or use it as normal and it and it will right itself

I have had a few of my strops get out of shape before too... I just take the strop apart and lay the leather on a hard flat surface and grabbed a number of heavy hard cover dictionaries to put on the strop for a few days... Liked to use one.book and with pressure run it up and down the strops every once in a while.. Worked great both times..

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I agree with TCM. Take it apart and flatten the leather with an even, heavy weight from one end to the other. You may want to put a piece of plastic bag between the books (or whatever weight you use) and the leather to eliminate any more color/dirt transfer.

A danger of using it as is is that it will twist some while stropping and either mess up your edge, or cane you to slice the strop. Don't ambarass me by asking how I know, but I do. :gaah:

The hanging weigh idea may work but it will take considerable weight. Laying flat with weight has not been as effective for me as I find with most materials, leather, cloth, even thin metal a material needs to be bent beyond the desired shape before it will spring back to where to want it. I often coax the leather into the shape I desire by over bending a bit but no so far that you kink the leather surface away from the deeper layers and completely ruin it.

You can wash the cloth. If cotton it may or may not get a little stiff but will soften again. Linen will get rock hard when wet but will also soften again once dry. In either case it will shrink a bit and will wind up shorter than your leather section.

Do not worry about the newspaper ink on the strop. Although it may mar the appearance of the leather, it will not harm the performance. In fact, it might improve it. Many people strop on folded newspaper because the pigment in the inks are effective stopping abrasives.

I defer to Tony Miller who knows strops infinitely better than I. He's so knowledgeable and good that I own and use one of his for every SR shave!

Take his advice!!

if the ink is a problem for you,, just use lighter fluid on a clean microfiber cloth,, dont soak it,, but wipe carefully.. it will clean it. or see if Ballistrol will get it out, but lighter fluid has removed some pretty bad stuff from a couple of my stropos

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RayClem

Do not worry about the newspaper ink on the strop. Although it may mar the appearance of the leather, it will not harm the performance. In fact, it might improve it. Many people strop on folded newspaper because the pigment in the inks are effective stopping abrasives.

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Good point !

Iwasaki recommended that you wet the strop, then lay it between two flat boards and let it dry. I’ve done this with old strops and it works. A little extra weight on the top board will help.

Cheers, Steve

Naptha is the active ingridient in lighter fluid that makes it clean so well.

Being a little bit wary of making it worse, I decided to give it the "one week under dictionaries" treatment. It is better, but not quite there yet.
I've tried the same with the linen, but it is still wavy.
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I'm a little wary of making the strop wet, honestly, as I got a stain from previous exposure to water.
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Looks like I'll try Tony Miller's advice. Cross fingers.

I have never tried to straighten a strop, but I have made a few soft and floppy.

You have to hydrate the strop by adding water and oil. Dampen a wet sponge and wipe both sides and the edges. Wait 15-20 minutes and add 3-4 drop of neatsfoot or Ballistol to a folded paper towel. Wipe it on to the surface, you may need to add 3-4 drops to each side. Rub it briskly into the leather and hold the oiled cloth pad over spots that need more oil, allow it to absorb. It may look blotchy, but will even out in a few days.

Ballistol seems to penetrate easier, faster. Some folks don’t like the smell, I do, my bride no. It goes away after a day or so.

The water will allow the oil to penetrate deep into the strop. Wait about 30 minutes to an hour. Pick up a rolling pin from a thrift store and suspend it from a couple of loops of cord. I used 550 cord and a couple eye bolts attached to the top of my garage door.

I open the door and hang the rolling pin. Roll the strop, gently begin by just doing a couple of lite rolls on each side. Do not over bend. If you feel it cracking, do another course or water and oil a week later. Do not over oil, add oil slowly and allow at least a week to fully absorb.

Keep rolling until you can roll the leather on the roller in a full U. If you can not, wait a few days and repeat the whole process, moisture, oil and rolling. It can take a month or 2 to fully hydrate.

The water and the rolling will allow the oil to deeply penetrate the strop and the leather will eventually become very soft and floppy that can easily be stretched flat. It will also give the strop more draw.

Depending on the strop and the weather it can take several weeks or a month for the oil to fully penetrate the strop. Even if you do not get even coverage, and it may appear blotchy. The oil will penetrate eventually.

Rolling also works great for linen and especially firehose. Yea, don’t add oil to the linen, just saying , just in case.

To remove a water spot, just wet the whole strop with a damp sponge, it will dry to an even color.

You know, cows get wet, right? Leather is much more resilient than folks think.

After you get it a little hydrated, with a round shaft screwdriver that has been sanded on the shaft to 220-400 grit. As you do not want any imperfections on the shaft(they will leave marks or scratch the surface. Don't ask how I know that! Lol. You can do some of thisAttachment 302319I does help staighten a strop that needs a little help.

Yea, you are kind of doing the same thing as the roller on a smaller scale as well as burnishing the finish.

The roller I use is a smooth plastic pastry roller with ball bearing in the roller. I on the other hand I want a smooth suede finish, just the slightest of nap. When I strop on it, I can see the nap change directions, like a shadow. I lightly scrape the finished side with a sharp card scraper.

Rolling with a rolling pin, glass bottle or tool shaft breaks down the fibers and relaxes the leather for a smoother finish and strop consistency.

My shop strop is an old ¼ inch thick, Certified, Russian Diamond Cut back, that is soft and floppy, it will roll and twist easily yet pull taught and provide a fine finish. I keep it hydrated and well oiled. I wipe it down with a wet sponge every time I use it, almost daily and burnish it with a rough paper towel.

I buy folded paper towels in bulk the kind you see in bathrooms, I have the same dispenser. They are cheap and have multiple uses in the shop, or just for drying your hands.

Here’s a pic of the set up and another with a piece of Firehose after repeated rolling. It is soft and floppy. The leather easily bends around the roller.

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Naomi-san has a video of his industrial roller. That thing must work quick. Nice addaptation, I will have to try it out. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the advice. I only have the following oils: mineral, coconut, WD-40, and fluid film. Do you think one will perform better than the others?

With leather strops ive found nothing better than Neatsfoot Oil.. You dont need much because it goes a long way...

Of the four, probably Coconut, but use it sparingly and only on leather that has been hydrated with damp sponge and allowed to absorb, 15-20 minutes, probably a ¼ teaspoon or less.

You can use Olive oil, some well know leather carver/ saddle makers recommend Olive oil. Buy pure olive oil, that is not a mineral oil blend, read the label, also sparingly 4-5 drops at a time, wait a week or more between applications for fully hydration or you can tear the leather fibers.