Old Strop Restoration advice...

[stripermanx]

Hello all,

I need some advice concerning an old strop I restored. I read the strop restoration Wiki in the ShaveWiki section before I began and also read a few other strop restoration articles from different sources.

The strop I restored is a two piece strop, one piece being leather and the other piece canvas or rough cotton or linen. The second piece looks more like canvas than anything else. The strop is probably from the early 40's, has no handles and the two pieces are attached together with some brass sheet metal which is run through by a brass screw with a square metal flange right under the head (so the screw just doesn't keep turning) and a round nut which goes on the threads. Both the leather and the canvas are 24" long and 2.5" wide. The canvas piece is 1/8" thick while the leather piece is 1/6" thick. The leather piece has parallel grooves that run parallel to the width cut into the leather on the backside.

The leather piece was extremely dry and not very supple when I got it but it did not have any cuts, nicks, or tears in it. The canvas piece was also free of cuts, nicks, or tears but seemed to be packed with old dried out shaving lather.

The first thing I did was to take the two pieces apart and clean them both separately with a good quality saddle soap, letting them both dry completely between cleanings. This was done 5 times for each. As I did not have any neatsfoot oil, I had read somewhere that mineral oil was just as good for the leather. I used unscented baby oil on the leather (the label saying it contained mineral oil only). I really oiled the hell out of it over a couple of days. I did nothing to the canvas piece after I had cleaned it with the saddle soap.

It has now been about 30 days since I finished oiling the leather piece. The leather piece is now ultra soft and supple but still feels oily to the touch. I am going to get a 4 sided paddle strop and put different sized micron pastes on the different sides so I don't have to hit the stones every time I feel a little pulling from my razors. My questions are as follows:

1. Is the leather OK to strop on feeling oily to the touch as it does or should I find a way to dry the leather so it does not feel so oily?

2. If I need to remove some of the excess oil from the leather, how would I go about doing this? What material(s) and/or techniques would I use to accomplish this? How would I know when I have removed enough of the excess oil?

3. What type of paste or strop dressing should I use on the canvas piece for everyday stropping before I stropped on the finishing (leather) piece? I don't want anything that "cuts" (removes metal), as I will have the 4 sided paddle strop, with the different sized micron pastes, for that.

Thanks so much for your expertise in these matters. Hopefully I am on my way to maintaining my straight razor equipment in a way that will give me and my children and grandchildren many, many years of pleasurable "old school" shaving!

Regards.

 

[Luc]

I'm not too sure where to go from there. I would try using the strop, oil won't harm the razor. I think you over-did the oiling process... If I was to remove some oil, I would possibly try the saddle soap again to wash off some of the mineral oil...

 

[Thebigspendur]

Over time the oil will naturally dissipate. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[QuarkVI]

If it is really too oily then you could cover it in tissue or newspaper and put some weights e.g. books on it - I have done this in the past with a couple of leather articles that I over oiled. Do this till no oil comes off on the paper. This only gets rid of substantial excess. Otherwise just use it and eventually it will balance out - I overdid my poorman's strop with neatsfoot and after a couple of months things have evened out nicely.

 

[DESkydiver]

Yeah, rinse and repeat 5 times with saddle soap is a bit overkill, twice, maybe three times should be more than sufficient, and then no need to repeat for well over a year. You can blot up most of the excess with a clean dry cloth, paper towel or the like until the absorbing subsides, continue to work the leather with your palm daily and it will eventually work into 'the right' feel... like others have posted, it will eventually balance out.

 

[buddydog]

You should have asked these questions before you oiled the he'll out of it.Too much oil makes the draw too heavy.I've done that myself and had to try to get the oil out.The newspaper thing works pretty good.A very small amount of Lexol rubbed in to a dry strop works the best for me.

 

[kirk 988]

if the linnin is very hard and looks like it is iflled with old lather could it be chalked

 

[tinkersd]

You need to go back to square one, one new scrubbing with Saddle Soap and then wipe down with soft cloth, let air dry for about a week, if it still feels "Oily"the take it apart again wrap in newsprint, put a couple of 2X4's on top and bottom, clamp with a couple of 'C' clamps and let alone for about a fort/nigh [couple 'O weeks] when you dismantle you should have some very oily newsprint and a much nicer strop. All you really need to do with a strop that is in working order of to rub your had over it about 40 to 60 times 2 or 3 times a month to keep it right.

And, the rest will be History!!

Good luck on the strop and have a great shave on me, tinkersd [the mouthy one]