Strop advice

[Brian Van Fossen]

Hey guys and gals. I joined the forum to ask this although I always lurk here.

I ordered a paddle strop and just received it. I was surprised to see the leather is smooth on both sides. Is this the way it should be?

I thought one side would be rough like the back of my belt.

 

[ndmiller]

Nope both side should be smooth. Put green and black strop paste (someone sells the sticks, forgot who) on alternate sides and you're good to go for essentially the rest of your life. Good to use heat to ease the strop loading, and it will be streaky first time, but streaks even out with strop usage.

 

[Uncle Timbo]

Great advice above. I use heat on the compound as well as the strop leather.
When strop eventually turns black from usage, I use 99 cent mechanics hand cleaner with lanolin to clean the leather. Rinse well with hot water. Let it dry for a few days and repeat above procedure.