Thread: Vintage strop with waxy substance on the linen

Hi everyone. I recently purchased a shell strop from an antique store for the amazing price of $15 and there is a linen attachment which has a waxy substance on it. Would you say it's better to leave it or wash it off with fabric detergents?

If the strop works as is I would use it as is. If the dirt bothers you or it doesn't work you can wash it. Many of the old strops were treated with different things. Chalk was very common. Of course if you wash it out you will probably lose whatever it is loaded with.

Agreed. Test it, see how it does. If it works, leave it alone. If you decide to wash the linen, I'd hand wash it in a sink with Woolite, then lay it out flat to dry on counter..Some folks wrap them in towels and lay books or some weight on top to flaten them..

Actually, The linen doesn't look to bad to me...

Ok thanks for the advice.

May I suggest that you do a search in this forum for cleaning or washing. There is a ton of advice on this and also look in the SRP WIKI.

One of our guys, I think it was Puffah, posted the process his father used to reapply the wax to a cleaned linen strop. It was a cool post.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

May I suggest that you do a search in this forum for cleaning or washing. There is a ton of advice on this and also look in the SRP WIKI.

One of our guys, I think it was Puffah, posted the process his father used to reapply the wax to a cleaned linen strop. It was a cool post.

Thanks Randy!