Thread: Lathering a strop

Hey Seraphim, Just had a read of that book (Yes the whole thing!) pretty interesting stuff, not particularly to do with shaving but interesting nonetheless!

James

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Thanks for the detailed account. I had definitely read of that method long ago but didn't remember it in detail until your post. Now I know why I never tried it. Rubbing lather into a strop for fifteen or twenty minutes is more work than I am prepared to do for softening a strop. Call me lazy.

I'm lazy too! Lathering/rubbing for about 5 minutes worked great for me.

I only did it for less than five minutes.

Originally Posted by Seraphim

I'm lazy too! Lathering/rubbing for about 5 minutes worked great for me.

Yes, I found that the amount of bottle rubbing can be reduced and still have a good effect on the strop.

The first time I tried this method I did go the full 15-20 minutes just because I wanted to try it per the directions. It's not a fun process.

The second treatment, brushing lather on the leather and letting it dry, is very easy and the results are quite nice.

I find this interesting. I have always been told that soap breaks down the leather and if not completely removed from the leather that it would "rot" it. I am not doubting you guys because someone might have been BS ing me.


Take Care,
Richard

I wiped off the soap after working it in and let the hone dry. Good results here.

I did this for a piece of leather I used for a paddle strop I just made. It worked well enough for me.

just tried it I did about a hundred strokes with the glass and even though my strop is not dry it feels smoothe and softer but I will see in the morning when it dry

I have a Vintage Russian Shell Strop that I use after honing a razor and was wondering if lather would work on it as it is pretty slick and has a relatively hard surface. I cleaned it with saddle soap and conditioned it with mineral oil when I first got it. It seems to work pretty well now but I think some more cleaning and conditioning would help. Any one tried lathering a Russian Shell or should it be treated like regular leather? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

Hi guys I would just like to inform you all about a strop that I bought of flea bay for a £5 it is a Scorcher No 153 Real Horse Hide it has 2 leather strops in one, the finishing side is a normal strop that I cleaned up with baby wipes then gave it a good treatment with neat foot oil. I think that this strop hasn’t been used in a long time as it has started to crack. However the other side is what interests me it was jet black when I tried to clean this up I noticed that it there is about 1/16th inch thick of stuff on top of the strop. I have had a good look at this and I think that it is lather with soot in it. Any way after about a week of gentle cleaning most of it came off. After reading this thread about leathering a strop I thought why not. I can honestly say that the strop is still jet black but it’s like a new strop. It has a lovely draw to it and the little nicks that were in it have gone and most of the cracks have healed up. I tried the strop with the soot before I cleaned it and it didn’t harm the blade however the strop had some very uneven draw because of its age and condition so that is why I had a go at cleaning it. I can honestly say that I will now be looking at cheap strops on the net and having a go at this on them.