Thread: bowed strop

I bought a kit with a Dovo razor and a SRD 3" strop. It appears that the edges are cupped, so there is more contact on the extreme ends of the blade. I have had my setup for about a year now. I haven't treated the leather with any products; I've only rubbed my hand over the strop before and after.

Any recommendations?

Thank you!

Roll a bottle on it , on a flat surface. The cupping will flatten out.

If it's a recent development you may be pulling too hard on the strop & cupping it. If it's always been there it may be a any number of things.
Worth trying the bottle or even curling the edges in reverse pre use.

I've had good results curling the edges in opposite direction of the cupping. I grip the strop between my thumb and index/middle finger and curl it ever so slightly in reverse direction while gently gliding down the whole length of the strop a couple of times. Careful tho so you don't curl it too much or you'll end up with a strop that is high on the middle instead...

I'll need to try this as well, I have the same strop with the same issue.

It's slightly concave before I start pulling on it as well.

That's a common problem with wide strops. The wider it is the more likely to happen. Leather is a living substance and it reacts to the environment in many ways.

What was mentioned are the best ways to deal with it.

I've got a wide strop that was bowing, and it helped a little bit to put a piece of wood (walnut, which I gunchecked) across the pulling end. I should put one at the hanging end, too, for full support.

If you hang the strop against a wall, it will experience different humidities on its different sides, and that will also cause cupping as one side swells or shrinks. That happens to the one in my camper, and also to my paddle strop that hangs on an exterior wall at home.

that makes alot of sense. im in the market for my first decent strop and these care tips help a lot.