Thread: New Tony Miller Strop w/Water Damage

Hello all,

Here are some pics of my brand-new Christmas present! it's a Tony Miller 3" steerhide with linen & barber's handles. I am very excited to have it, but as you can see from the second pic my poor mother spilled water on the strop and damaged/discolored part of the leather. I can't get mad at the poor woman; after all, she was nice enough to buy it for me!!

My question is; do you think this will affect the draw at all & should I be concerned? It appears to be more of a visual thing than anything else, so I'm not too worried about it. I just want to make sure that it lasts me as I plan on using it for years & years to come!!

I'm not an expert on strops but to me it doesn't look that bad.
Does the leather feel noticeably different?

I wouldn't sweat it at all. Its a tool, use it!

My opinion on this is after some uses and hand rubbing conditioning this will eventually go away, or perhaps just part of the strop patina....

Brother I feel your pain I had the same thing happen with my hanging strop (Russian leather). But my stain wasen't from water, it was from hair gel. The nasty crew cut stuff. It never went away. When I run my hand down it, when I get to that spot its slicker then snot. I still use mine, but my eye is drawn to it with every pass I take.
Water shouldn't do any damage like making it slick.
Dont fret. Enjoy

Old barber manuals recommended spreading lather on the strop and rubbing it in with a bottle (kind of like a rolling pin) Obviously gets the leather wet, so I doubt if a wee bit of water will have an ill effect.

You could take some ...... very little ..... neatsfoot oil and apply it with a tissue or maybe a sponge. Spread it on and then rub it in with your palm. That will increase the draw some so remember, a little goes a very long way.

Don't do anything. Let it dry, and just rub it with your hand each day. See how it does. Worse case, you may have a little outline, like a circle. Down the road, you can always condition it, but that type steerhide, I wouldn't put anything on it.

It's almost sueded. I have one. You can alway call Tony, or email him. He's a pretty helpful guy.
He may have some different advice. Remember, Once you apply oil or conditioner, You can't un do it.

It's a great strop btw, Enjoy it, and don't worry about it.

Originally Posted by zib

You can alway call Tony, or email him. He's a pretty helpful guy.
He may have some different advice.

I would do this , before I did anything else .

Thanks, guys!

I'm not too worried about it after using it some today. The draw seems to be normal at that spot, so I'll just chalk it up to a "birthmark" made by my mom (she felt terrible, so I felt terrible that she felt terrible!!)...

Plus, I'm sure I'll get it dirty anyway as I use it!

Water will stain a strop but unless it is really soaked over and over there should be no functional difference.