Thread: illinois strop 127 leaves a film on my edge

I bought a strop a few weeks back and I noticed that it leaves a dull looking film on my straight after I am done stropping. When I use the canvas side it leaves the edge very bright. I first started stropping with a fine grained belt and it left the edge of my straight very bright and smooth. So I got the bright idea of using saddle soap on the leather side of my strop and now its not quite so slick as it once was, is this a bad thing??? I have not stropped and shaved yet so I am not sure how much damage I did. Thanks for reading, have a good one.

I'm stil a noob to straight shaving but I remember coming across a thread awhile back where the poster was having a similar issue. It was said that it is just residue from the strop dressing I think in that case and it would go away as the strop was used. But don't take my word for it see what some of the senior guys say.

It sounds to me as your strop got a bit too much product.
It should be used very sparsely.
I wouldn't be overly concerned though, it can be remedied.

What I suggest is to try to use a dry soft cloth or similar to thoroughly wipe your strop clean, then I would use the palm of my hand and rub the strop every chance I got.

This is how I treat all my strops, I give them a good rubbing of my hand every time I pass them. That way you will most likely never have to do any other things to it for years and years.
The reason for this is that the oils from your hand will keep the strop supple. and work it in to the strop in a good manner.

Try it out, I'm sure this can be fixed

Use alcohol and wipe off the blade after stropping. As long as your edge doesn't get dull after stropping you should be fine. gl

It does sound like the residue of the treatment they gave the leather. Palm rubbing is recommended with leather strops. Do some palm rubbing before each stropping session and that may accelerate the break in and get rid of any excess dressing. Good for the strop one way or the other.

I got the same issue when I dressed my Illinois 127 with lather to increase the draw. Weeks later I still get the residue on the blade. It comes right off with some water and rubbing and doesn't affect the sharpness of the edge.

You didn't ruin it...My only strop is an Illinois 827 (Russian tanned) that I have never dressed with any special compounds. I have had it for 2yrs and still see the residue by the edge when I pay attention. Nothing to worry about. +1 for the palm treatment, really helped me get good draw. She'll be a little slicker looking with better draw in no time.