Maintaining / cleaning a strop

[stitchawl]

Just joined the forum and read my first thread on conditioning strops.
I have my grandfather's strop that hasn't been used in years.
What should I do to bring it back to life?
Thanks

Are the oils in WD40 enough to condition the leather or do I still need to use shoe cream or purpose leather conditioner?

Conditioning leather is remarkably easy and cheap, and with an old, abused, dried out piece of leather, you can see the rejuvenation/transformation happen right before your eyes.

First, let me address the WD-40 issue. The short answer is NO. While mineral oil will make the leather 'feel' more supple, but it's really feeling more 'oily. It's rather like putting MSG on a bad piece of meat. It will 'seem' to taste better at first, but not actually do so. The Stoddard Solvent in WD-40 will really dry out the leather and the mineral oil will just make it feel oily.

If you clean a strop using Stoddard Solvent (mineral spirits, 'white' spirits, or Odorless Paint Thinner,) naptha, Coleman fuel, or lighter fluid, they will ALL really clean the leather, but they will all REALLY leach the vital natural oils from the leather... just as if the leather had been sitting on a shelf in the basement or attic for the past 20 years. BUT... just 2-3 pea-sized gobs of ordinary shoe cream (NOT wax shoe polish, shoe CREAM!) that you can find in any shoe store, department store, Walmart, Target, many supermarkets, etc., right next to the wax polishes, and selling for just a couple of dollars for a small jar, rubbed into the leather with your thumb or the heel of your hand will re-vitalize the leather instantly! If Grandpa's old strop is really dried out, you might rub 2-3 gobs into the back surface as well. Then let the strop sit over night. Let those oils in the cream migrate through the leather doing their magic.

You really only need to do this once or twice a year, unless you clean your strop often, which is something that perhaps you really don't need to do often. Just because a strop turns black doesn't mean it isn't working. Even if it get's glazed over, it is still doing its thing. A strop doesn't need a rough surface. It does its job at the mini-micron level, not the rough nap level. With 50-75 microns to fit the width of a human hair, and Green compound being about 1/2 micron, nap that stands 500 microns tall (as in suede,) doesn't mean a thing. Clean your strop every 5 years or so. It's the compound on the strop doing the work (assuming your are using compound. If your are NOT using compound, your strop won't glaze (if it's been properly sharpened) unless you strop several times a day for months on end, and unless you're a barber, why would you do that?

Shoe cream once or twice a year. Make your strop happy today.

Stitchawl

 

[droptrd]

Thanks!

 

[dbltap45acp]

Stitchawl, do you prefer the rough side or smooth side for a strop? Do you feel one does a better job over another?

 

[stitchawl]

Stitchawl, do you prefer the rough side or smooth side for a strop? Do you feel one does a better job over another?

Again, think 'micro' rather than 'macro.' The action taking place at the blade's apex is measure in microns not millimeters. Fractions of microns when you get right down to the final passes. Visualize sandpaper... 60 grit chunks of stone vs 2,000 grit that's almost paper-smooth, or better yet, polishing 'film.' At that level of fineness, it's almost as smooth as glass. Or think translucent Black Arkansas stone... smooth AS glass!

I prefer the smooth side, and here's why...

The more surface in contact with the edge of the blade, the faster (not better... faster) the results are generated.
Go back to that visualization of the 60 grit sandpaper. Now imagine that each little stone had, instead of a sharp cutting edge, a 'little leather face' on it that made contact with the steel. Because of the large 'size' of each little stone, there are LOTS of spaces between them are are NOT making contact with the steel all the time. If instead of large chunks, we have smaller ones, there will be less space between them, more chunks in contact with the blade at any given time, and a 'faster' final edge.

Now take this to leather. The rough side is akin to the 60grit stones, while the smooth side is more like the 2,000 grit. Remember too that we are talking about adding some compound to these surfaces. There will be more compound in contact with the steel at any given time when using the smooth side of the leather. You can't 'see' .5 micron with the naked eye, but it's that .5 micron that is doing the work. If it's 'down in the valley' between the little nubbies of rough leather, it ain't making contact with the steel! Only the tops are making contact. The more contact, the faster the effect.

NOTE: I keep repeating the word 'faster.' I'm not saying 'better.' However, "PERSONALLY," I 'feel' (I'm really being careful with my choice of words here) that at below 1 micron, the hardness and smoothness of the leather DOES make a difference in the quality of the final edge. For knives that I only sharpen to about 600 grit, and don't want a particularly polished edge, I'll strop on just about anything, smooth or rough. Inside of an old belt, back side of a stirrup fender, old piece of leather waste, etc. But for blades that I take down to 15,000-20,000 grit with polishing film, I strop ONLY with the smooth side of heavily compressed leather and good quality compounds. To go even finer, I'll use the smooth side of Shell Cordovan horsehide without compound.

I hope this doesn't add to your confusion. All in all, I 'prefer' the smooth side. But that's not as much fun to write.


Stitchawl