I just cleaned up an old Certifyd strop. This is so cool...

I found an old Certifyd strop on the big auction site earlier in the week. It arrived today. Other than being dirty, it was in great shape. The canvas strop had been chalked or pasted a long time ago. The leather and canvas came apart with the removal of a screw, so I took it apart for cleaning. I soaked the hardware in a rust remover that turns it green (can't remember what it's called), then scrubbed it with a toothbrush and rinsed it well. I soaked the canvas in hot water with a little dish soap and oxy-clean. I brushed lather onto the leather, worked it with my fingers, rinsed, and repeated. I then scubbed the canvas with a toothbrush and put it back in the soak. I rinsed everything well with clean water and walked on the strops between a layer of towels to dry them. I left them under a ceiling fan for a few hours to dry and then put them back together. Once completely dry, I rubbed Dr. Martens Wonder Balm into the front of the leather and worked it in with a glass bottle. I'm letting it all dry a little more until tomorrow, then I'll try it out. I'm very happy to have a nice vintage strop reconditioned for all of $18 with shipping.

Love old strops if even just for display,picked one up the other day marked U.S Cavalry,made by RW,sunasage I think,hard to read,neat hardware,not usable but a great thing I think,wish it could talk.

The old certifyds were professional barber strops back when pro barbers were pretty much the main market for strops. Most men , non barbers, were using DEs. What I'm getting at is they had to be good. I have a couple of certifyds including their Red Imp which is one of my favorites. Enjoy the strop, sounds like you did a first class restore on it.

I really like the idea of the Doc Marten's wonder balsam. I've been wearing those shoes for years now, and have the stuff, never thought about using it on a strop I restored. Please share your results.

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Originally Posted by DFriedl

I found an old Certifyd strop on the big auction site earlier in the week. It arrived today. Other than being dirty, it was in great shape. The canvas strop had been chalked or pasted a long time ago. The leather and canvas came apart with the removal of a screw, so I took it apart for cleaning. I soaked the hardware in a rust remover that turns it green (can't remember what it's called), then scrubbed it with a toothbrush and rinsed it well. I soaked the canvas in hot water with a little dish soap and oxy-clean. I brushed lather onto the leather, worked it with my fingers, rinsed, and repeated. I then scubbed the canvas with a toothbrush and put it back in the soak. I rinsed everything well with clean water and walked on the strops between a layer of towels to dry them. I left them under a ceiling fan for a few hours to dry and then put them back together. Once completely dry, I rubbed Dr. Martens Wonder Balm into the front of the leather and worked it in with a glass bottle. I'm letting it all dry a little more until tomorrow, then I'll try it out. I'm very happy to have a nice vintage strop reconditioned for all of $18 with shipping.

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Certifyd stropping company, not certified spelling company :gaah:

I'd love to see a picture. Yesterday there was a Red Imp strop being auctioned on ebay.

Thanks to this thread I just bought another strop :/ the only plus is it doesn't need reconditioning...

I would also like to see a picture of the strop. Sound like a great restoration.

I took a couple of quick cell phone picks. The leather looks better than this in person. I'm very happy with the strop, as it's much nicer than the one I was using.

Attachment 94086Attachment 94087Attachment 94088

As far as Wonder Balsam (take this with a grain of salt as I'm still a wet shaving noob), I've used it on my Doc Marten boots for years. Wipe it on with the included sponge (it will look and feal greasy) and let it sit for a few hours. It will soak in and will no longer feel greasy. The leather goes from looking dry to looking wet as soon as you apply it, and stays conditioned for quite a while. I applied it to the front of the strop (not the back).

Yes they are great strops indeed. One of my most prized shaving possessions is a red imp model 700 I got years ago on Eboy. It was NOS and came with its original wrappings. I use it rarely.