Strop question

[Crawdad]

Okay, mighty sages of the straight,
A friend found an old strop at an antique store and bought it for me. It looks to be in fairly good shape: no knicks or gouges and fairly flexible. At issue is the mold my wife claims she can smell. ( She does have a very good sense of smell--this a.m. she could tell I was shaving with E&C Sienna from an upstairs room!)

Sooo, the question is, what can I do to make this strop usable (if it isn't already) and are there any concerns. I've purchased a strop paste and have cleaned it already with saddle soap.

I have yet to venture with my straight and I'm getting eager.

Thanks!

Bob

 

[AFDavis11]

I'm not the sage your looking for but I would think it is reasonbly useable. I would actually clean it with a non-water based hand cleaner. I don't find saddlesoap to be as effective. From there, baring any other posts with obvious solutions, I would get a new strop or a new wife.

 

[Crawdad]

Thanks for the advice. I'll give it a shot.
(Easier to get a new strop than a new wife--and a lot cheaper!)

Bob

 

[rtaylor61]

Bob,

I don't know that I would use it. You may want to check with a local shoe repair shop on removing mol. I'm just thinking that mold/mildew, metal and minor nicks aren't a good mix. Goop is one thing you may try cleaning it with, but I don't know how effective it will be for removing/destroying mold.

Randy

 

[Crawdad]

Randy,

I'll follow your advice...come to think of it I know a bootmaker who would know what to do. I'll ask him.

If I can't use it, I get to shop!

Bob

 

[randydance062449]

Leather is cheap. No sense using a moldy strop on your razor. I would however try to salvage the strop to be used as a substrate for an abrasive paste.
Tyring a 30% chlorox solution wiped on both sides of that strop a couple of times and see what happens. If the mold disapears then apply a small amount to both sides of the strop and rub it in well. If all goes well then you can glue that piece of leather to a board and apply some abrasive paste to it and use that as a paddle strop.

Just my two cents,