Thread: Dont try this EVER

Originally Posted by Kees

Salt absorbs water, I am not sure it absorbs oils and greases as well.

Kitty Litter??????????????

i would pick break cleaner above kitty litter, i wouldn't want a pasted kitty strop lol

Some Kitty Litters are clay based so make sure tine grains do not get embedded into the leather.

well the break cleaner may have been a joke
Althoug i may actually try it.
What does surprice me is that none has suggested displacing the oil yet
Lets just see what happens to it if i spray with WD40

Originally Posted by janivar123

N
Do you think break cleaner is to harsh?

If you still have oily surface in your strop then this might work:

If you have a sauna, leave your strop there overnight as sauna is cooling. Lay it flat, cover with some paper (newspaper will do) and put some weight on it.
In the mild heat oil viscosity decreases (=oil gets thinner) and comes out easier.


Please leave the brake cleaner for cleaning metal only.

If nothing helps, then it's time to

Originally Posted by janivar123

well the break cleaner may have been a joke
Althoug i may actually try it.
What does surprice me is that none has suggested displacing the oil yet
Lets just see what happens to it if i spray with WD40

As far as I know, WD40 is for displacing water, it too contains oil. After I'm done working on my bike I use Gojo orange cleaner to get the grease off. It does contain a clumpy part though which might be too scruffy. Perhaps something like that might help.
I like the drive-a-car-over-it idea (covered with papers of course) but the tread could work it unevenly. how about a pasta machine to ring it out?

Originally Posted by Kees

Salt absorbs water, I am not sure it absorbs oils and greases as well.

......I am.

Originally Posted by Nakedave

As far as I know, WD40 is for displacing water, it too contains oil. After I'm done working on my bike I use Gojo orange cleaner to get the grease off. It does contain a clumpy part though which might be too scruffy. Perhaps something like that might help.
I like the drive-a-car-over-it idea (covered with papers of course) but the tread could work it unevenly. how about a pasta machine to ring it out?

Exactly the WD stands for water displacing.

Since WD-40 is known to result in a gummy surface it
might increase the draw ONCE the excess oil is drawn
from the surface. Kitty litter or Oil Dry can be effective
but will only wick away the surface oil, same as TP,
news paper, brown paper but Kitty litter and Oil dry
have an advantage in that they are not flammable.

In the mess here do not ignore the fire hazard that
oil soaked rags present. Some shops have degrease
fluid that work better than other solvents. Paint
stores have 'thinner' that can make cleaning oil based
paint easy. One could even use dry cleaning fluid.
I have seen carpet and tie cleaner that has a powder
(think oil dry) and a solvent. Spray the spot and
the grease from dinner migrates from the tie to the powder.

In the end solvents that remove oil will leave the leather
dry as cardboard. It will then need to be nourished
with a natural "oil" in MODEST amounts. Perhaps lanolin
but most shaving soaps are hyper fatted and will get you
there. Lemon/Orange oil may also work...

ive cleaned a strop with orange GOOP hand cleaner. it is non abrasive and lanolin enriched. it sucks out oil well. get it for a dollar at the dollar tree!

Isn't saddle soap used to clean leather?

If so, then how about washing or rubbing your strop down with saddle soap--along with using the newspapers and rolling pin to remove the excess oil?

Just my 2 cents...