Strop maintenance.

[Mikey's Deli]

Is there any special way to maintain the health if your leather strops?
Do you need to treat the leather?
I have two bovine strops. One fitted for a Edge Pro, used (a bit nicked up due to inexperience) and one I haven't touched. I waiting until learn more about how to treat and maintain it.
Any advice?
Thanks,

 

[stitchawl]

Every 4-6 months give it a few spots of a good quality shoe cream. (NOT wax shoe polish!) For an EdgePro strop, 2-3 small pea sized dots are MORE than enough. Just use your thumb to rub the cream in well. It is not necessary to purchase expensive strop dressing or even leather conditioner in large bottles. Those little glass cups of shoe cream will last you about 10 years or more, and shouldn't cost more than a couple of dollars, and you can buy them in your local shoe store, department store, discount house, and often even in the supermarket. The trick is to really rub it in well, let it work itself into the leather, then wipe off all the excess. Let it sit overnight, then wipe it down again. The strop will be good to go for the next 4-6 months. (BTW... 4 months if you live in desert climate, 6 if you live in the jungle.) As long as you don't cut up your strop, this sort of treatment should allow your strop to last just about forever... Maybe longer.

 

[Mikey's Deli]

Every 4-6 months give it a few spots of a good quality shoe cream. (NOT wax shoe polish!) For an EdgePro strop, 2-3 small pea sized dots are MORE than enough. Just use your thumb to rub the cream in well. It is not necessary to purchase expensive strop dressing or even leather conditioner in large bottles. Those little glass cups of shoe cream will last you about 10 years or more, and shouldn't cost more than a couple of dollars, and you can buy them in your local shoe store, department store, discount house, and often even in the supermarket. The trick is to really rub it in well, let it work itself into the leather, then wipe off all the excess. Let it sit overnight, then wipe it down again. The strop will be good to go for the next 4-6 months. (BTW... 4 months if you live in desert climate, 6 if you live in the jungle.) As long as you don't cut up your strop, this sort of treatment should allow your strop to last just about forever... Maybe longer.

Right on. Thanks.

 

[SA Condor]

Wouldn't it matter what leather you use? So I get shoe cream to maintain, what would you consider the best leather to use?

 

[Scarface48]

Most strops are made from vegetable tanned leather. This includes latigo, which has other compounds added to the basic leather. Avoid chrome tanned leather. Ask your supplier. A saddle shop is a good place to get the leather.

 

[Cereal_killer]

I have had pretty good luck with mine very little maintenance, every once in awhile I'll lightly sand the surface down (with 600 grit). Make sure you get all the grit out of the leather, don't want it ruining your edge.

 

[stitchawl]

Wouldn't it matter what leather you use? So I get shoe cream to maintain, what would you consider the best leather to use?

The single most important aspect when choosing your leather is its density. For a flat bevel stropping you really do want a very firm substrate, the firmer the better. This can be achieved several ways; vegetable tanned hides that have been compressed, or very thin top grain split hides mounted on hard surfaces. If you are covering the leather with compound, the choice of animal and tanning process is 'almost' not a factor... unless you are sharpening for photomicrographs. For actually cutting purposes most people won't notice any difference, so no sense spending a lot of money for the leather. Cheap veg-tanned cowhide from your local hobby shop, properly processed will work well. A 12"x12" square of 8-9oz veg-tanned leather from Jantz Knifemakers Supply or Texas Knifemakers Supply costs less than $15 and will make four 3"x12" strops. Keep in mind that you want it to be firm rather than soft and supple. A leather shoe sole from the neighborhood shoe repair shop can work very well though a bit small for large blades. This works very nicely for stropping pocket knives.

If you are NOT using compounds, the choice of barbers for the past several hundred years has been horsehide. Barbers have always needed the very best edges if they want their customers to come back for a second shave, and horsehide gives that edge. However, high quality horsehide is expensive, and you can get 'almost' as effective results using properly cased cowhide. (The biggest difference being that what you achieve with 10 strokes on horsehide may take you 15-20 strokes on properly cased cowhide. Leather isn't some magical substance. The natural silicates in ALL leathers are the same size. It's more a question of the amount of natural silicates to be had.)

Keep in mind that stropping is not the end-all/be-all magic bullet. It's just the finishing step in a properly sharpened edge. It's a great daily touch-up when used correctly. Think about the 'Barber shop stropping' goal. If your goal is to 'cut,' stropping will give you an edge.


Stitchawl

 

[Rennd]

I just put lotion on mine. Works well enough.

 

[stitchawl]

I just put lotion on mine. Works well enough.

With just a few exceptions, any liquid that is made for skin care will be of 'some' benefit to leather (cow's skin.)
However, some will work better than others. For example 'Calamine Lotion' will not work nearly as well as 'Dove Moisturizing Lotion,' and plain lard will work better than both for revitalizing the leather (but attracting bugs that will eventually destroy it.)

For leather care, it's good to use leather care products. They are cheap enough and a $3 tin of shoe cream will last a lifetime. A $8 bottle of Lexol will last just as long, but not necessarily do a better job, just be easier to apply to large surfaces, which is what it's made for. I have a third generation horsehide hanging strop that's only been treated with shoe cream. I'm still using the same little tin of the stuff that I bought back in the early 80's. There'll be plenty left when I die too and my son gets that strop.


Stitchawl

 

[Ben Dover]

Perhaps I'm a bit OCD, but I consider the minimal cost of a bottle of Fromm's strop drressing well worth the price.:thumbup::thumbup:

 

[Sadden]

Leather Magic has separate cleaner and conditioner , in two formulations , one for treated leathers , and one for raw leathers. Just ordered a bottle of each for the raw leather and 300 cotton gun cleaning swabs.

I don't want to use shop towel or Kleenex as I don't want any fibers depositing on the strops. But I need separate pieces of cloth to prevent cross contamination.

 

[ol' smoke]

I read that the old barbers used the same shaving cream used on customers to condition the strop. Does that make sense to you guys?

 

[stitchawl]

I read that the old barbers used the same shaving cream used on customers to condition the strop. Does that make sense to you guys?

Sure! Older shaving creams were made by mixing fats (usually lard) in with lye (sodium hydroxide.) Actually, that's how most soaps are made although these days people are switching from lard to oils such as olive oil for home-made soaps. The lard is an excellent leather dressing. One can spend a LOT of money buying fancy-named leather products, but they really don't do anything more than ordinary neatsfoot oil or animal fats will do. They just smell better...

Leather isn't some magical substance. It's skin. Animal skin. Give animal skin its own oils and it's happy.


Stitchawl

 

[stitchawl]

Perhaps I'm a bit OCD, but I consider the minimal cost of a bottle of Fromm's strop drressing well worth the price.:thumbup::thumbup:

It certainly can't hurt, and if you're happy with the results, that's all that really matters.


Stitchawl

 

[stitchawl]

There is one important fact to consider...
Leather is pretty amazing stuff. I have some odd pieces of veg-tanned cowhide on my shelves that are 10-15 years old.
They have NEVER been treated with any sort of leather conditioner, and are still in the same fine shape they were in when they came from the tannery.

The reason for this is that unless leather gets used (and abused,) it retains its natural oils. And by 'abused' I mean getting wet and drying too fast, getting muddy and not cleaned, or getting sweat-soaked (salt) and not washed off. (Yes...'washed' with soap and water! It's good for leather!) Leather saddles made from vegetable tanned cowhide, if kept clean, only need to be rubbed down with leather conditioner a couple of times a year even if they are used daily, get rained on often, sun-burnt, and butt-pounded all day! Just a little bit of leather conditioner will keep a working saddle healthy for a lifetime. In the case of leather conditioners, 'more' is not necessarily 'better.' The leather will only absorb as much as it really needs and no more.

Then think how much 'abuse' a strop might get... or, in reality, doesn't get.

When I see a vendor selling 'strop conditioner' with the advertising copy; 'to keep your strop in good condition use daily,' I have to wonder at the integrity of the vendor.


Stitchawl

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

There is one important fact to consider...
Leather is pretty amazing stuff. I have some odd pieces of veg-tanned cowhide on my shelves that are 10-15 years old.
They have NEVER been treated with any sort of leather conditioner, and are still in the same fine shape they were in when they came from the tannery.

The reason for this is that unless leather gets used (and abused,) it retains its natural oils. And by 'abused' I mean getting wet and drying too fast, getting muddy and not cleaned, or getting sweat-soaked (salt) and not washed off. (Yes...'washed' with soap and water! It's good for leather!) Leather saddles made from vegetable tanned cowhide, if kept clean, only need to be rubbed down with leather conditioner a couple of times a year even if they are used daily, get rained on often, sun-burnt, and butt-pounded all day! Just a little bit of leather conditioner will keep a working saddle healthy for a lifetime. In the case of leather conditioners, 'more' is not necessarily 'better.' The leather will only absorb as much as it really needs and no more.

Then think how much 'abuse' a strop might get... or, in reality, doesn't get.

When I see a vendor selling 'strop conditioner' with the advertising copy; 'to keep your strop in good condition use daily,' I have to wonder at the integrity of the vendor.


Stitchawl

Lately, I've started using an old leather belt that my Dad gave me, back when I was in my early teens (40+ years ago), maybe earlier. It was a belt he'd used when he was in the Army, back in the early '50s. It has a double row of holes (7 x 2) for the buckle, a pair of which also held a special bracket to support a canteen, and the outside surface is worn very smooth & shiny. It has made a nice finishing strop for my simpler carbon & low-alloy stainless blades. I use it like a hanging strop, with the buckle end hung by a hook. As you've mentioned, old leather is amazing stuff, as this belt hasn't seen any kind of moisturizer in at least 40 years, and likely longer (and this is in the uber-dry desert southwest, for most of my existence). Doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear.

The portion of the belt that had been supported by a belt loop, at the middle of the back, is bent way out of shape and distorted. I've thought about trying to find a way to flatten or straighten it, though I haven't attempted anything yet. Most 'methods' I've read about for flattening/straightening leather all seem to involve moisture and heat. Don't want to risk altering the stropping/polishing character of the leather, just for the sake of flattening the middle portion that's distorted. Still have about 12" or so of relatively flat & smooth leather to either side of the distorted portion, so I'm not really hurting for the extra length of the strop.


David

 

[stitchawl]

Lately, I've started using an old leather belt that my Dad gave me, back when I was in my early teens (40+ years ago), maybe earlier. It was a belt he'd used when he was in the Army, back in the early '50s. It has a double row of holes (7 x 2) for the buckle, a pair of which also held a special bracket to support a canteen, and the outside surface is worn very smooth & shiny. It has made a nice finishing strop for my simpler carbon & low-alloy stainless blades. I use it like a hanging strop, with the buckle end hung by a hook. As you've mentioned, old leather is amazing stuff, as this belt hasn't seen any kind of moisturizer in at least 40 years, and likely longer (and this is in the uber-dry desert southwest, for most of my existence). Doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear.

Our own 'leather' seems to keep all our parts well contained for 80-90 years despite repeated washings and no extra conditioners (for the majority of guys, anyway.) And it's not even tanned, a process that makes it much more durable. Salt hurts leather. Constant humidity hurts leather. Unusual flexing when very dry hurts leather. Abrasion 'can' hurt some leathers... But that's about it. Mechanically it really is a very durable product. Just think about how much abuse the average shoe gets, yet it's the stitching, or man-made holes that gives way before the rest of the leather. And when treated properly, can last a lifetime or more. Leather was the choice of machine pulley belts for hundreds of years before synthetics were developed.

The portion of the belt that had been supported by a belt loop, at the middle of the back, is bent way out of shape and distorted. I've thought about trying to find a way to flatten or straighten it, though I haven't attempted anything yet. Most 'methods' I've read about for flattening/straightening leather all seem to involve moisture and heat. Don't want to risk altering the stropping/polishing character of the leather, just for the sake of flattening the middle portion that's distorted. Still have about 12" or so of relatively flat & smooth leather to either side of the distorted portion, so I'm not really hurting for the extra length of the strop.
David

Use the moisture without the heat and you won't have any problems. Water does NOT hurt leather. Put the belt in the sink and let it sit for 10 minutes. (Being G.I. issue, it was most likely very well impregnated with 'dubbin' (a mix of wax, oil, and tallow) during its service life. That was the conditioner of choice for about 200 years before the newer creams were created. Messy stuff to work with, hence the changes. Soaking it won't hurt it at all. Lay it out flat on board, put another flat board on top (no need to use heavy weights) and leave it alone for 2-3 days. Then remove the top board, turn the belt over onto a drier area and leave it for another few days. NO EXTRA HEAT!!!! When it's completely dry, a very light application of any sort of conditioner (shoe cream, strop dressing, dubbin, etc,) worked into the leather will give it another 100 years of good service as a strop. Personally, I wouldn't use Neatsfoot oil on it... You don't want to really soften this as much as Neatsfoot oil will do. But you DO want to really rub the conditioner in well. There shouldn't be any change in the leather's characteristics if treated this way.


Stitchawl

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

(...)Use the moisture without the heat and you won't have any problems. Water does NOT hurt leather. Put the belt in the sink and let it sit for 10 minutes. (Being G.I. issue, it was most likely very well impregnated with 'dubbin' (a mix of wax, oil, and tallow) during its service life. That was the conditioner of choice for about 200 years before the newer creams were created. Messy stuff to work with, hence the changes. Soaking it won't hurt it at all. Lay it out flat on board, put another flat board on top (no need to use heavy weights) and leave it alone for 2-3 days. Then remove the top board, turn the belt over onto a drier area and leave it for another few days. NO EXTRA HEAT!!!! When it's completely dry, a very light application of any sort of conditioner (shoe cream, strop dressing, dubbin, etc,) worked into the leather will give it another 100 years of good service as a strop. Personally, I wouldn't use Neatsfoot oil on it... You don't want to really soften this as much as Neatsfoot oil will do. But you DO want to really rub the conditioner in well. There shouldn't be any change in the leather's characteristics if treated this way.


Stitchawl

Thanks Stitch. I think I'll give that a go. This belt's surface has some great feedback; it's very firm, with a little bit of 'sandy' draw to it, as best as I can describe. I was a bit worried about changing or losing some of that, in trying to re-wet it. Your advice lends a little bit more confidence. Much appreciated. :thumbup:


David

 

[Kai Winters]

I use food grade silicon spray. I liberally spray the silicon on both sides of my strop and use a metal paint scraper to remove the old compound from both sides. I spray several times and scrape after each spraying to make sure I remove all the compound.
I use a clean cloth to wipe off any excess gunk then heat the leather over my kitchen gas stove burner to heat the leather. This is the first time I've taken such time and effort...after reading this thread...and the strop works much much better. The compounds went on much more evenly and make a bit difference.

I stropped my Bark River DPH, ZT566 and my work knife...HK Plan D...wow much sharper...easily slices through phone book paper much more cleanly.

Thanks everyone.

 

[mycough]

As far as shaving cream goes, it has been a go to for many mlb baseball players as part of their glove care and break in ritual. Used it on shoes in a pinch, why not a strop? Russ.