Thread: Old barbershop strops

I bought my barber shop 3 years ago and it had some good stuff just laying around so I'm trying to recondition and use what I can. Info and opinions on these strops would be appreciated!

I can't give you advice on strops, but the strop guys will chime in before long. The boys on the other side of the pond will be waking up in 3 or 4 hours; they always have good input on strops.

I can say that the strops look in good shape & it's a great thing that you are bringing them back to the line for service.
Thank you for sharing them.

those strops look great, especially the one in the last photograph. i wonder where one can find a strop of similar design if they are still made?

I would saddle soap them and lay them flat to dry covered with a towel...When they are dry, I would treat them with Neat'sFoot oil from the back side of the leather strop and with Palmolive shave soap with a high tallow content on the front side of the strop.

If that treatment doesn't do the trick for you, you can hand sand the leather surface to whatever fineness you desire and see how that works for you. I have hand-sanded three different strops in past years with good results. It seems leather is similar to wood in that it can be sanded back to life.

Someone will be along soon with more advice for you. Take it all in and make the best decision you can.

Jerry
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I've restored a few. Saddlesoap and neetsfoot oil for the leather usually does the trick. Sometimes more aggressive measures are needed, like sanding, as mentioned by Jerry. Use the Neetsfoots very, very sparingly. A little goes a long way.

For the linen component. Some guys like to use Woolite or something like that, soak it, lay it out flat, wrap it in a towel, and use books to keep it flat.

I've found that spray carpet cleaner, like Resolve works best. It so easy to use, spray it on, wait a few minutes, use a small scrub brush to work it in then blot dry. Once it's dry, it's so soft and clean, it looks brand new. No need to weigh it down. Normally, linen wants to bunch up after you wash it. Not with carpet cleaner. I wish I had before and after pics.

IF the strops aren't relatively in the same shape as a new strop, as far as how the surface feels, extra measures may need to be taken. OTOH, I've got vintage strops, off of the bay, that needed no more than the palm rub treatment. OTOH, some need more.

I've never used shaving soap/lather on a strop but there is no doubt that barbers throughout the years did as a maintenance procedure. This archived thread below goes into it. Particularly the posts by honedright and by Neil Miller.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ing-strop.html

For me the tallow soap and bottle works wonders (as many have said) Have always been put of by sanding as grit contamination is a concern of mine,One of the best things I have found for cleaning vintage leather are Mr. clean magic erasers (melimine foam).
They are abrasive on a sub-micron level and leave no residue.They really clean old leather well.They also do a fantastic jop of polishing Ivory.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

For me the tallow soap and bottle works wonders (as many have said) Have always been put of by sanding as grit contamination is a concern of mine,One of the best things I have found for cleaning vintage leather are Mr. clean magic erasers (melimine foam).
They are abrasive on a sub-micron level and leave no residue.They really clean old leather well.They also do a fantastic jop of polishing Ivory.

I have shied away from sanding strops as well. Unless I'm mistaken, once you go through the smooth top grain leather there is no getting it back ? No finishing method will reproduce that top grain. It is either there or it is not and becomes, at some level, the rough leather below the top grain, no matter how smooth you can finish it.

Thanks a lot everyone. I cleaned them up and used a little mink oil. They look and feel nice after a good warm up using my palm.

Very nice strop to have found laying around. Looks like an earlier Kanayama Llama series? Perhaps made for and distributed by a company here? My eyes are too old to see the pic's that clearly.