On the red imp strop my girl got me the canvas strop is very dry. When I strop on it it leaves a powder of cotton that has broken down on the blade. Is there anything I can do to add some moisture back into it to bring it back to working condition.
Canvas strop question
- Thread starter Suhrim21
- Start date
Have you cleaned the strop before using it? I just looked at your other thread showing the strop.
Clean it!
Typically nothing is put on it. It needs to be clean though.
In the old days they were broken it with cotton seed oil then rubbed with dry soap and polished with the side of a bottle.
Many people put stuff on the canvas in the past but I have never seen the need to do anything to clean canvas.
Clean it!
Typically nothing is put on it. It needs to be clean though.
In the old days they were broken it with cotton seed oil then rubbed with dry soap and polished with the side of a bottle.
Many people put stuff on the canvas in the past but I have never seen the need to do anything to clean canvas.
- Thread starter
- #3
I do know it was cleaned. To me it seems like it was cleaned with something that dried out the fibers. Running hand on it I only feel cotton nothing else no dirt or anything. I will try cleaning it again to make sure its completely cleaned. What would be the best way to clean it.
- Thread starter
- #4
What is the best way to clean the canvas strop. I really dont want to damage it.
Mastro Livi recommends lighter fluid. Wet a piece of Toilet paper and rub on it once from bottom to up
- Thread starter
- #6
That would dry it out further wouldnt it. The canvas is already way too dry. I need something that is going to condition it. Would a little fromm strop dressing be ok or would it gunk up the cotton.
I usually soak a bit in Dawn dish soap (just a little) then scrub with a stiff nylon brush (nail brush), rinse extremely well! more than you would think, wring out well, dry with towels then let sit to dry.
It will shrink some so keep it stretched well.
I have never hydrated a canvas strop.
If the strop was washed it may not have been rinsed well and this is what you might be seeing.
Wetting it will raise the fibers some so use a clothes iron to mat them down when dry.
Page 48 has some suggestions.
The barbers' manual
It will shrink some so keep it stretched well.
I have never hydrated a canvas strop.
If the strop was washed it may not have been rinsed well and this is what you might be seeing.
Wetting it will raise the fibers some so use a clothes iron to mat them down when dry.
Page 48 has some suggestions.
The barbers' manual
- Thread starter
- #8
Thanks
For cleaning old fire hose linen, I have soaked it in a small tub of of cold-to-lukewarm water with a little bit of soft fabric detergent, brushing stains with an old toothbrush (or sort of what S&S recommends above). After rinsing the fabric in cold water, I place it between a fold of towel on a flat surface and blot off the water with a rolling pin, starting from the middle of the strop and rolling from end to end. Then I place the strop between another fold of towel on a flat surface, lay some heavy books on it and wait 24-48 hours. Afterwards, it's flat, dry, and ready to use.
I also wouldn't advise pasting it. Powder after stropping sounds like some kind of residual paste. I've heard that in the old days, some folks would "paste" with talcum powder, for example.
I also wouldn't advise pasting it. Powder after stropping sounds like some kind of residual paste. I've heard that in the old days, some folks would "paste" with talcum powder, for example.
When reconditioning the canvas portion of your strop, be sure to separate the canvas and leather parts so you do not contaminate the leather with whatever you are using to condition the canvas.
You might try adding a couple of drops of glycerine to your palm and rubbing it into your strop. Glycerine is a humectant, which means that it will draw moisture our of the air, so it will help keep the strop hydrated. For those of us who hang our strops in the bathroom, we often have the opposite problem. High humidity in the bathroom can be detrimental to strops.
I have seen folks try to recondition vintage linen strops by rubbing a puck of shaving soap across the surface of the linen. If you do not like the feel of the strop afterward, you can always rinse out the soap and let the strop dry.
You might try adding a couple of drops of glycerine to your palm and rubbing it into your strop. Glycerine is a humectant, which means that it will draw moisture our of the air, so it will help keep the strop hydrated. For those of us who hang our strops in the bathroom, we often have the opposite problem. High humidity in the bathroom can be detrimental to strops.
I have seen folks try to recondition vintage linen strops by rubbing a puck of shaving soap across the surface of the linen. If you do not like the feel of the strop afterward, you can always rinse out the soap and let the strop dry.
Moisture will make the strop rough as mentioned in the link.
Clean and do not add anything as Alum of Potash recommends.
Clean and do not add anything as Alum of Potash recommends.
This is what I have done and it works great.
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Is it cotton canvas or flax linen?
I've read that people that restore flax linen fabric soak it in water for extended periods of time to rehydrate the fibers. I'm going to look into the glycerin mentioned earlier.
I'm surprised someone mentioned lighter fluid. That seems pretty caustic to use on a natural fiber IMO. I'm certainly no expert though.
I'm cleaning some old unused flax linen firehose tha has been stored in a box for years. Soaking in cold water and washing/scrubbing with a little mild detergent seems to work well. After it is completely dry I wrap around a cylinder and work it back and forth to loosen up the fibers. Then I repeat the process.
I read a tutorial where a guy clamps a weight to a linen component to stretch it out so it doesn't end up shorter than the leather. I thought that was pretty cool.
I've read that people that restore flax linen fabric soak it in water for extended periods of time to rehydrate the fibers. I'm going to look into the glycerin mentioned earlier.
I'm surprised someone mentioned lighter fluid. That seems pretty caustic to use on a natural fiber IMO. I'm certainly no expert though.
I'm cleaning some old unused flax linen firehose tha has been stored in a box for years. Soaking in cold water and washing/scrubbing with a little mild detergent seems to work well. After it is completely dry I wrap around a cylinder and work it back and forth to loosen up the fibers. Then I repeat the process.
I read a tutorial where a guy clamps a weight to a linen component to stretch it out so it doesn't end up shorter than the leather. I thought that was pretty cool.
I have a linen strop that had paste applied to it and I took a stiff scrubbing brush and water and cleaned it and it worked perfectly. The linen was like new.
- Thread starter
- #16
It still feels like it's really dry. I tried washing it by hand with some laundry detergent but never got any answer to make it not feel dried out.
Just buy another component strop and move on, no matter what you do it will still be not be 100%. Fabric brakes down.
Buy a firehose strop or Kanayama fabric strop. They will do much better job for the blade and use what you have for drying after your shave and then wipe clean.
No matter what, you will have major shrinkage once water comes in contact with your cotton/linen strop. Around an inch or 2. So your strop and component strop will look wonky.
Buy a firehose strop or Kanayama fabric strop. They will do much better job for the blade and use what you have for drying after your shave and then wipe clean.
No matter what, you will have major shrinkage once water comes in contact with your cotton/linen strop. Around an inch or 2. So your strop and component strop will look wonky.
What laundry detergent did you use? How long did you soak it? Did you try the glycerin method @RayClem mentioned??
Noticing the fabric breaking down or does it seem almost dry rotted? Depending on the condition of the fabric though you may not be able to get it back to where you want it to be.
- Thread starter
- #19
I'm thinking nothing I do will help it. I really didn't want to have to replace it as it is the original for the red imp 700c strop. I may replace it and just keep the linnen so I still have it.
This is copied and pasted from the kanayama canvas component information, i got it from aframes tokyo. Dont know if it works for your component though.
******PLEASE DO NOT USE THE CANVAS STROP WITHOUT ANY TREAT TO BE SOFTER******
The new canvas strop is very tough and hard cloth, even they have been soften by a machine, so it might get damage to your razor blade. If you do not have time to do below processes, please take off the canvas strop from leather strop, and wash it in washing machine with softener at least several times like new jeans. The new canvas strop will be softer and it is forgiven the lapping of razor blade. Or if we have stainless kitchen knife, we can lap the blade hundreds times, and then it gets softer, but the blade edge might be changed, so we should use cheap and not important stainless steel knife.
###################################################################################
=====How To Make Softer Canvas Strop=====
It is kind of hard work, but if you will try to do it, please do like below:
Put on body soap (solid one), and wash it away
Put on the canvas strop on the wood board, and pounding with wooden hammer on the round portion of the wood hammer side to kill the tough fibers.
Washing by brush
Rubbing solid body soap
Washing by brush
Wrapping by Nagura to polish the surface of the canvas strop
Washing by washing machine
Drying at shade a couple days
Putting on body soap by brush
Wrapping by beer bottle strongly
Please do the all above processes three times
******PLEASE DO NOT USE THE CANVAS STROP WITHOUT ANY TREAT TO BE SOFTER******
The new canvas strop is very tough and hard cloth, even they have been soften by a machine, so it might get damage to your razor blade. If you do not have time to do below processes, please take off the canvas strop from leather strop, and wash it in washing machine with softener at least several times like new jeans. The new canvas strop will be softer and it is forgiven the lapping of razor blade. Or if we have stainless kitchen knife, we can lap the blade hundreds times, and then it gets softer, but the blade edge might be changed, so we should use cheap and not important stainless steel knife.
###################################################################################
=====How To Make Softer Canvas Strop=====
It is kind of hard work, but if you will try to do it, please do like below:
Put on body soap (solid one), and wash it away
Put on the canvas strop on the wood board, and pounding with wooden hammer on the round portion of the wood hammer side to kill the tough fibers.
Washing by brush
Rubbing solid body soap
Washing by brush
Wrapping by Nagura to polish the surface of the canvas strop
Washing by washing machine
Drying at shade a couple days
Putting on body soap by brush
Wrapping by beer bottle strongly
Please do the all above processes three times
