Thread: Gummy Amplex on 4-Sided Paddle Strop

About six months ago I tried to re-paste the diamond sides of my 4-sided paddle strop using Amplex that I got from Tony M (3.0, 1.0 and 0.5 micron). The plastic tubs of pastes had sat around so long that they appeared to be dried out (I must not have closed the plastic tubs securely). So I mixed a couple of drops of water with the Amplex that was in the tubs and applied the pastes. After waiting a couple of weeks, I tried to use the paddle strop. Unfortunately, the Amplex had not dried and was gummy. It stuck to my razor. I ended up using some cloth to remove all of the Amplex from the leather. This rendered the stop for the most point, unusable.

Recently, I purchased syringes of Amplex and re-pasted the strop as shown on the B&B Wiki. I applied a very thin layer of paste to the appropriate sides and let it dry for a week, or so. I was able to strop my razor, but things didn't seem to be quite right. After a week, I added another very thin layer of Amplex and let it dry for another week. Tonight I tried to strop my razor and I had gummy Amplex again. Instead of the original white/light grey, the Amplex appears to be almost tan (like the unpasted leather).

I wonder what I'm doing wrong, since the Amplex should have had plenty of time to dry. (I do not store the strop near any moisture source.)

Has anyone experienced this?

Also, do I need to 'treat'/clean the leather before applying Amplex again?