Strop was folded up.....need help......

[kopio]

Ok guys,

So I recently went on a 11 day trip and I took all of my shaving gear with me. I decided to pack my 3" Tony Miller Latigo strop, since I was going to be staying with family and would have good place to shave.

When we left I packed the strop carefully, making sure it had the most gentle of bends in it so that it would fit in the cosmetics bag. When we left, my wife packed it, and not knowing any better just kind of tossed it in. So I get home and my strop now has a couple of big kinks in it as well as the outline of what I think might have been a nailpolish bottle (round impression in the middle of the stropping surface.

I'm guessing it's not a really difficult fix, but....how do I iron it out (so to speak). I tried laying it flat on our kitchen table for a couple of days with a copy of War and Peace on it (seriously!) and that helped a bit, but it's still not smooth like it was. How do I restore it to factory smooth without effecting the leather or the wonderful draw that it has now that it's perfectly broken in?

FWIW.....I'm getting ready to leave on vacation again, but this time I'll most likely be taking my TM practice strop!

Warmest Regards,

--Matt

 

[Greybeard]

You could try putting it on a flat surface and rolling a wine bottle over it.
I straightened out some kinks in a vintage strop I bought by putting some Williams lather on it and then rolling it.

 

[honed]

You could try putting it on a flat surface and rolling a wine bottle over it.
I straightened out some kinks in a vintage strop I bought by putting some Williams lather on it and then rolling it.

That is just the way to do it
Any tallow soap will do.

 

[W_B_K]

Try the above first.

If the kink is really bad (as in rippled leather), it will require sanding with a pumice stone, then follow up with some lighter sandpaper until you have the finish you want. As long as it was folded with stropping surface facing out you should be ok. If it was folded the other way, it is most likely damaged beyond use.

Shoot Tony a PM; I'm sure he will have some great advice for you as well.

 

[Kees]

Iron it at low temperature with a moist towel between leather and iron. Put neatsfoot oil or any other leather conditioner on it afterwards and allow to be absorbed by the leather.

Works a treat!