Thread: Can I repair nicks in strop?

I'm new to stropping and I'm starting to get comfortable with my strokes and I've gotten to the piont where I'm not nicking it up. But early on that wasn't the case and I have a few nicks. Is there a process to repairing the nicks? I pretty sure I've read post where people have referenced repairing a strop but none on how to do it.

Yep, you can! Its not too hard to do either.

Very small slices and nicks can be sanded out with high grit sandpaper and simply treated with some neatsfoot oil afterwards.

Larger slices and flaps of leather will need to be glued down with rubber cement and then you can just sand over those to smooth them, and again treat with neatsfoot oil. You can use Fromm strop dressing instead if you want to.

My first strop got a total pounding and by doing these simple repairs its still going strong as a pasted strop today!

Good luck and keep us posted!

Thanks for the info, I have 800, 1k and 2k grit sand paper. Which would you suggest?

1k will be fine, thats what I used. Then just give the strop a good rub with your hands each day as well, that'll help break the repairs in and keep the leather supple.

I nicked a paddle strop once. I glued down the flap. Be sure if you need to do this, you use the glue very sparingly. As a matter of fact, test how much comes out somewhere else first. if done correctly, you can't hardly see the repair...

Stu is correct too, sanding on nicks and oil afterwards works well....

+1 on the rubber cement. I personally like a product called Pliobond. It's great for leather because it works fast and never gets brittle.

Originally Posted by flyman

+1 on the rubber cement. I personally like a product called Pliobond. It's great for leather because it works fast and never gets brittle.

I agree!

Pliobond is a great product, and probably the best for this application.

Nicking your first strop is a given, everyone has probably done it, I'm guilty too. The good thing is that it's NOT ruined, there are many ways to repair a nick. I've used my wife's nail file, (believe it or not!) This worked well because it was a very fine abrasive that kept the leather smooth. I sanded the nicks until the edges were blended in & then I applied a liberal amount of strop conditioner on it. The strop is now discolored where I've done this but the nicks are gone. Good luck!

Thanks everyone, I'll keep you posted on the repair

As an alternative to sandpaper, try a pumice stone from your local pharmacy or walmart. They can be found over by the nail clippers, and files, etc.

I would recommend that instead of sandpaper, simply on the off chance that some of the sandpaper grit could possibly get stuck in the strop, and we don't want a tiny piece of grit hitting our razor on each pass do we?