Thread: Vintage Koker leather and canvas strop help

I bought this Koken strop last week at a garage sale with the intent on using it but I was wanting to get some info about it first. Its a Leather and canvas strop made by Koken Companies. The strop is 2 1/2 in wide and 24 in long. The canvas has some writing on it but I can't make it out. The leather reads De Luxe shell broke in natural finish on the top and near the bottom is has a diamond with 700 in the middle of it and the Made by Koken companies stamp. I don't know much about strops so I wanted to see if i have something rare before I start using it. Any info will help. Thanks

That doesn't look too bad. You might want to wash the linen somehow. I'll let others chime in on how do do that. The strop's leather if labeled correctly is Horse Shell Leather, which is sometimes referred to as "Cordovan." Shell leather is a premium leather.

Here is a recent discussion on the topic:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...-question.html

If the leather appears to be overly dry, you might want to apply a little neatsfoot oil to it. Again, I'll let others chime in how to do this.

Looks like a nice find.

I know Koken also made barber chairs, but that's about all I know. Correcting the spelling should help your searches.

Koken was a very large barber supply outfit. I doubt they made the strop even though it says they did. They sold bottles, chairs, just about everything with their name on it.

You should be able to undo that screw & separate the two components. That way you can clean the linen, & treat the leather without getting the leather covered in water & the linen covered in oil!
Good luck. Hope you get it back.

P.S. It looks like it's been apart before, as the linen is on the wrong side of the leather. If you reassemble it the right way round you'll find it easier to use.

I'm at work now so I can't check but one of my favorite strops in the world is an old Koken shell. It is thin and supple and just feels great when stropping. With old linens that had lumps in them I've had good luck washing them by hand in cold water and laying them on a flat surface to air dry.