Very old Rolls razor strops, can they be saved?

Hello,

I have two very old rolls razors and the strops are very hard, crispy and red powder comes off each time I touch them. Can they be saved? They remind me of dried out Bacon...lol

James

I would try little neets foot oil. But only a little this stuff goes a long way if that fails get in touch with a strop maker they might be able to make you a replacement.

There is a guy in classifieds who sells "homemade" strops to rolls razorz, singlewedge is his "callsign".

I just contacted Singlewedge about some replacements for my Rolls Razors, He replied that he had just moved and will let me know when he can get to making some more of them. They look like they would be a better choice than originals. He makes them with a canvas side on the reverse of the leather.
I would go ahead and contact him to let him know if you want to buy the replacements.
He can be found near the end of the strop and hone section of the classifieds.

Hello James,

The strop is made from very thin, but reasonably hard leather - it is about 1.5mm thick. Under this is glued a support that does not reach the long edges - because they have to be 'tucked' under the sides of the tin (never force the tabs open - just insert the new strop under the tabs, belly it up a bit and make sure the edges are retained.

To get the old strop out, insert a thin springy blade or palette knife at the open end and lift the middle a bit - this frees the edges.

The 'sandwich' is about 3mm thick in total, sometimes a strip of thick material is used, sometimes it is something like pasteboard.

They can possibly be saved - the neatsfoot is a good idea, but if it has started crumbling it has probably gone a bit too far.

Regards,
Neil

I have a few also with strips in that condition. I tried everything and it was useless. I went to a leather place by me,Tandy Leather, and got some nice latigo and cut and fit it. Works great!

Saturate it with neatsfoot oil and let us know what happens. That's what I did with good results.