So I was looking for a travel strop and decided to dip my toes into eBay for a used strop purchase. Unfortunately not so lucky on the first try. Some significant wrinkles in this one.
Based on reading related threads my first thought was that the strop got its wrinkles in shipment, as it was coiled pretty tightly in the box shown in the photo. But it was coiled leather out, which I understand is better. And the wrinkly pattern is exactly in the middle of the strop which makes me think that the reality was that the strop was probably stored folded smooth side in for some period of time in the past. I went back to the listing to see if I missed something in the photos. In fact only 1 of the 8 or so photos showed this portion of the strop at all, and in that photo the strop was completely within the frame and on its edge with a slight bend in the middle (the wrinkles disappear when you bend the strop at this point). So now I’m thinking that the vendor knew about the issue and staged the photos to minimize exposing the damage. Caveat Emptor - I guess shopping the Bay for vintage strops requires the same knowledge as shopping for vintage razors.
So already did some searching of past B&B threads. My understanding is that these are the steps I would want to follow in order:
1) Steaming - wrap the strop in a towel for protection and then steam with an iron (short bursts to avoid scorching).
2) Sanding it down - if I do this likely end up with very different surface so may need to do the entire length to keep the draw consistent.
3) wash with saddle soap or shaving soap (a few different products had been recommended, I am thinking about using my Trumper’s soap, which I find pretty poor as a shaving soap)
4) apply a small amount of neatsfoot oil.
Is the above in the right order? Should I try saddle soap and neatsfoot oil before sanding, or should I wait until after the wrinkles are removed to worry about that. Other than the wrinkles and a few minor scrapes and stains the leather and linen are both in good shape. The hardware is in excellent condition.
Based on reading related threads my first thought was that the strop got its wrinkles in shipment, as it was coiled pretty tightly in the box shown in the photo. But it was coiled leather out, which I understand is better. And the wrinkly pattern is exactly in the middle of the strop which makes me think that the reality was that the strop was probably stored folded smooth side in for some period of time in the past. I went back to the listing to see if I missed something in the photos. In fact only 1 of the 8 or so photos showed this portion of the strop at all, and in that photo the strop was completely within the frame and on its edge with a slight bend in the middle (the wrinkles disappear when you bend the strop at this point). So now I’m thinking that the vendor knew about the issue and staged the photos to minimize exposing the damage. Caveat Emptor - I guess shopping the Bay for vintage strops requires the same knowledge as shopping for vintage razors.
So already did some searching of past B&B threads. My understanding is that these are the steps I would want to follow in order:
1) Steaming - wrap the strop in a towel for protection and then steam with an iron (short bursts to avoid scorching).
2) Sanding it down - if I do this likely end up with very different surface so may need to do the entire length to keep the draw consistent.
3) wash with saddle soap or shaving soap (a few different products had been recommended, I am thinking about using my Trumper’s soap, which I find pretty poor as a shaving soap)
4) apply a small amount of neatsfoot oil.
Is the above in the right order? Should I try saddle soap and neatsfoot oil before sanding, or should I wait until after the wrinkles are removed to worry about that. Other than the wrinkles and a few minor scrapes and stains the leather and linen are both in good shape. The hardware is in excellent condition.