Thread: Linen Strop Cleaning and Reconditioning

Have this old strop with a nice piece of linen but extremely dirty and probably full of metal particles. The linen is very nice and its actually a piece of tubing like a firehose. I was thinking to cut in the middle and turn it over because the interior looks pretty clean.
I had tried different products on it but nothing really clean it the way i wanted it.

On another thread Rich aka Zib mention using carpet cleaner for the linen strop, and i just happen to have some, i sprayed the linen let it sit for a while, then scrub it really good with a brush.

I did this process 3 times to get the linen clean, the rinsed, let it dry overnight, then i used a regular clothing iron to get all the wrinkles out of it. I'm very pleased the way it turned out.

Lastly applied a small amout of dovo white paste and ready to use. Please note that the first pic was after some cleaning was allready done. Thanks for the great tip Rich!

Your carpet cleaner seemed to do a nice job on it.
I have two strops that have the same type of 'hose' material. It looks like one was washed some time in its history which left it 'lumpy'. I tried to use a wood press to flatten it back out, but no luck. Any idea how I can reflatten it??

Originally Posted by Johnus

Your carpet cleaner seemed to do a nice job on it.
I have two strops that have the same type of 'hose' material. It looks like one was washed some time in its history which left it 'lumpy'. I tried to use a wood press to flatten it back out, but no luck. Any idea how I can reflatten it??

Well this one had some lumps as well, after all the cleaning it was pretty soaked up but regular clothing iron would probably do the trick, it did for this one!

My mom said that her mom said to only use naptha soap for cleaning the old irish linens, so I assume that would be a good choice to use on strop linen. The problem is, nobody makes it any more Fels Naptha no longer contains any naptha!

But if you look around, you can find vintage soap to clean your vintage strops. I found 4 bars of vintage naptha soap in a local antique shop. I dont know if it works any better or worse than the carpet cleaner, but it sure did work!

It's cloth so some washer detergent and a good stiff brush and some elbow grease is what you need.

Funny thing.. I just happen to get an old strop in the mail today. It needs a lot of work but the linen thing has me stumped even after reading all this. I wish BigSpendur's answer was the case but my Mother say's " Crap, that's real linen ? I wouldn't just wash it. Take it to the dry cleaners and ask them if they would or how they would." It seems linen has this funny thing about shrinking. It will shrink in some spots and more than other places. Hence the bumps. I am wondering if after you got it ironed flat if steam from the bathroom or any kind of moisture in the air would make it go bumpy again. If the dry cleaner can't help I am thinking of turn mine inside out. Very much a challenge but I bet it could be done. The leather on mine may be repairable but I have a brand new piece of horse hide and was going to replace the old one with it anyway. Is why I bought the thing in the first place. Here it is in my hand now. Will report back later with what all I did and what happened.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It's cloth so some washer detergent and a good stiff brush and some elbow grease is what you need.

It is not cotton cloth its Linen totally different.

Originally Posted by 10Pups

Funny thing.. I just happen to get an old strop in the mail today. It needs a lot of work but the linen thing has me stumped even after reading all this. I wish BigSpendur's answer was the case but my Mother say's " Crap, that's real linen ? I wouldn't just wash it. Take it to the dry cleaners and ask them if they would or how they would." It seems linen has this funny thing about shrinking. It will shrink in some spots and more than other places. Hence the bumps. I am wondering if after you got it ironed flat if steam from the bathroom or any kind of moisture in the air would make it go bumpy again. If the dry cleaner can't help I am thinking of turn mine inside out. Very much a challenge but I bet it could be done. The leather on mine may be repairable but I have a brand new piece of horse hide and was going to replace the old one with it anyway. Is why I bought the thing in the first place. Here it is in my hand now. Will report back later with what all I did and what happened.

Yes just like mine, after cleaning i really ironed it really well and its holding fine.

I just got an old strop with what I take is canvas, it looked like flattened fire hose. On that basis just scrubbed it with a nylon brush and some Simple Green cleaner several times. Rolled it up in a towel and squeezed it then hung it to air dry. No lumps or bumps. Man the crud that came out of that thing was amazing.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

I just got an old strop with what I take is canvas, it looked like flattened fire hose. On that basis just scrubbed it with a nylon brush and some Simple Green cleaner several times. Rolled it up in a towel and squeezed it then hung it to air dry. No lumps or bumps. Man the crud that came out of that thing was amazing.

Bob

I just went over the leather on mine with Liquid Glyceren and yep paste all over it. It had several gashes in it that I fixed with rubber cement and held together with a clamp for awhile. Not sure if I like the leather part enough to use it yet. When I took the brass off it had green paste under it on the leather side. You made my brain kick in here. Maybe BigSpendur is right. I am not sure what this material really is after all. Hmmmmmm I like the no bumps with your method. I hate ironing :<0) .