How to recondition my strop

[ziggy925]

I got a new 3" horsehide strop awhile back. It was very stiff and slick, so I used some neetsfoot oil on it. Later on I used some lather and a glass to condition it. The strop came with a pumice stone I've never used.

Now it's slick again and I want to bring back some draw. What do I do next and where does the pumice stone come into play? FYI, it's still pretty stiff. It works okay, but I like the feel of some draw. Makes me feel like somethings happening. :-)

[thebigspendur]

Rather than trying to make a horse out of a mule you should have bought a horse to begin with.

Horse strops generally don't exhibit much draw. I know folks condition them to cause them to give draw but it's not in their nature and it has nothing to do with it's performance. Strops like the latigos exhibit loads of draw.

The pumice is used in lieu of sandpaper to repair minor damage in a strop.

Probably, if you want the draw you will need to condition it again just don't use too much oil. personally I would just use it the way it is.

[Catrentshaving]

Exactly what thebigspendur said...horse is slick...if you want that constant draw without destroying that strop youre gonna have to switch.
I have a latigo as well and if you want draw that's the ticket

[TM280]

There is nothing in the nature of either horsehide or cowhide which imparts draw, or lack of it. It is the tanning and finishing processes which give a leather a certain quality.

It can well be that the strop you have is not appropriate for strop use, or at least not your use, since you would rather have more draw (I sometimes like a very slick strop). There was recently a thread on sanding a strop which was well detailed (was it Dylan?).

If you used some 400 or 600 wet/dry, you would have a very nice draw on your strop. I would advise having some 1000 on hand as well, in case you thought the 600 gave it too much draw. Use a lint free cloth slightly dampened afterwords to remove dust, then maybe a good rub with a dry micro fiber cloth.

Some warn of stray grit particles from the sandpaper. I have always found that there are no problems if a good cleaning is done. The pumice stone would accomplish the same thing, but one is much less in control of the effect than with known grit sandpapers. (Strange that it came with a stone, they may well have expected you to engineer your own strop...)


regards,
Torolf

[ziggy925]

I hear all of ya. I was reading that a horsehide strop does, in fact, have little draw, but it can be conditioned to add draw. I just sent an email to Ken Rup and I'll pass along what he says, but do you all think I should go to a Latigo and use the horsehide as a finishing strop, as Tony Miller suggests?

I started rubbing the strop with the pumice stone and it looks like it's bringing back the original nap. If I keep going the strop will look like it did when I got it. I'm going to lay off until I hear from Ken, but before I started messing with the strop today my shave yesterday was excellent -- much closer than with my DE.

[ziggy925]

Here's what Ken had to say:

"Just to reassure you, my six year-old horsehide strop works as it did when I
made it. I use my pumice stone as soon as any shinny spots appear. What you
can do to bring yours back it is to aggressively sand it with 100 grit
sandpaper. Do this sanding with the stop on a flat surface such as a
countertop. Sand in multiple directions and this should bring back the nap. "

Ken Rupkalvis
RupRazor.com

[Catrentshaving]

but do you all think I should go to a Latigo and use the horsehide as a finishing strop, as Tony Miller suggests?

This is actually what I do after honing. When I'm just stropping to shave I switch em up just for a different feel. In the end, proper stropping will give you basically the same result as long as you have a decent strop...the rest is just preference IMO