Thread: Lathering a strop

Hello Exile!

The black stuff most likely was soot - very fine soot was frequently used for its mild abrasive power, chiefly for imparting a shine to the blade. Candle-snuff and tallow was supposed to make a good dressing. Chimney soot has often been used too.

Be careful of the cracking on old strops - no amount of dressing, lathering or compound will get rid of a deep crack - it's dead leather, it can't heal! Most likely the cracks were just surface crazing.

Regards,
Neil

Thanks a million Mac, I do believe you have finally help me fix one of the biggist problems I have had with stropping! It works, it really does!

Originally Posted by DoughBoy68

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!

The original russian shell strops were top quality, made of horsehide, very slick and quite stiff. They were supposed to be that way and did not really require any breaking-in.

New russian strops, on the other hand, are mostly not horsehide - the "russian" refers to the method of tanning. A lot of people misinterpret this - even reputable shops, one of whom sells a "russian" strop by "Prima Rindleder" - the latter part is not a company, just german for best quality cowhide!

The 1900 Handbook of Subsistence Stores for the War Dept says that:

The razor strops furnished for the use of the Army consist of two parts or, rather, two strops combined in one implement. One part or strop is made of Russian horsehide leather, and the other of linen-duck hose canvas. [...] The razor strops are kept in good order for use by applying shaving lather from a cup to both the leather and the canvas parts twice a week with a shaving brush, and afterwards rubbing them with a stick of especially prepared lead, which is furnished with each razor strop. A small tin tube containing an oily dressing for occasional use on the leather strop is also furnished. To use the dressing, take enough of it from the tube to cover the tip of the forefinger and apply it on both sides of the leather part, evenly distributing it by rubbing. A razor strop should not be used within an hour of applying this dressing. This dressing should only be used when a proper edge cannot be otherwise obtained on the razor. These razor strops when properly stored are warranted to keep in good condition for five years. They are put up separately in cartons, 24 cartons to a case.

The lead bar is interesting - obviously it does the same job as rubbing with the bottle, but there must have been something about it's metallic nature that enhanced the strops performance. Further to this, the Household Cyclopaedia of 1881 says:

Another excellent mode of renovating a razor-strop is by rubbing it well with pewter, and impregnating the leather with the finest metallic particles

The old pewter alloy contained, among other things, tin and lead (I don't think modern pewter contains lead). So the common denominator is lead. Lead was present in the old newsprint-ink formulations, and people used to strop on newspaper. The stuff in the old black newsprint inks was probably 'litharge' - lead-oxide.

Not that I'm advocating the use of lead, of course - it's harmful effects are probably too well-known by us all to go into here, but that's how some of the russian horsehide strops were treated in the past.

Regards,
Neil.

Neil,
Thanks a ton for the info, that is more info than I was expecting to get. But that seems par for the course here because if someone asks a question the members here always have a lot of info to pass along, this is a great community and I'm thankful to be a part of it. I thought the lather process would work but wanted to be sure. I only use that strop after honing but didn't want to take a chance on ruining it.

Hi,
I have 2 years old basic Dovo strop. I made search with "dovo" headword in this topic. But there comes any hit. Do anyone here have a Dovo strop?
So I must ask if this lathering a strop is good for Dovo strop?

Mikko

Originally Posted by MikkoH

Hi,
Do anyone here have a Dovo strop?
So I must ask if this lathering a strop is good for Dovo strop?

Many of us have Dovo strops. Assuming it is just a plain strop and not one of Dovo's pasted versions, I wouldn't put anything on it unless it has dried out. The best thing is to rub your palm up and down it before use, the heat and your sweat will work nicely.

I have used Williams and Van Der Hagen from Walmart and they both work miracles on my strop. I do it once a month. What a difference!

Pretty soon there will be a 40-post thread ont he benefits of drinking lather with breakfast.... ;]

Well, it does look like whipped cream.

Originally Posted by welshwizard

Many of us have Dovo strops. Assuming it is just a plain strop and not one of Dovo's pasted versions, I wouldn't put anything on it unless it has dried out. The best thing is to rub your palm up and down it before use, the heat and your sweat will work nicely.

I am not sure if it is pasted version or not. I guess it is just a plain strop. There is text "FEINSTES KERN-JUCHTEN".
When I purchased it the vendor sold me that yellow cap strop paste. And he said it is for the strop care. I have put it to the strop randomly.

Are you meaning this strop is too new for this treatment? Or it is just not requiring it, yet? Is this lathering required only if you have a stropp wich is used a lot?

Actually I have not used my strop so much. That is one reason why my razor get so dull. When I come to SRP I really understand how important stropping is. I must add stropping to my every day routine. Also I noticed this topic and I think wow I must do this awesome lathering trick

After all I start rubbing strop and we will see how it works.