Dry shell strop

[mattnat]

Hay all
I just got this strop from ebay and it seems to work wonders. It has a thin shell side and a thick regular leather side. The thicker side is a bit cracked and I was wondering if I should condition the other dry spots as well. I was thinking about using this strop clean and I suspect there is some old paste on the strop that is making it work so well.
Or maybe the dry leather works better?

A local baber took a quick look and said work oil in with the spine of razor.

Should I not worry about old grit and just use a few drops walrus oil on the dry spots?


Should I level the cracks with lapping film , dust and vacuum and then use walrus leather oil?

Should I use saddle soap to clean the old paste of the thick side?

Thanks all for your support.
Matt

[thebigspendur]

Shell strops were usually the thin Cordovan pasted to a thicker leather. The thick side, you can use any kind of leather conditioner out there and cleaner too. Personally, I like Bick Products. For the cordovan side you need to be more careful. Probably a VERY light application of oil is about all I would use.

Normally shell doesn't need anything.

[mattnat]

Hay all

I found an old barber manual with care info for shell strop.https://naturalwhetstones.com/razor-...-stone-methods.
Basically progression sanding while wet then polishing with a dry rag to create glassy surface. It works well.
I will add that fingernails will scratch the strop in the final step so using a block for the dry step helps. Also a crape block helps as leather clogs the sandpaper.

Here is the shell strop in the first pic

[sharptonn]

Looks perfect. No more sandee!
Just rub it and use it!