Flattening a strop

Joe Edson · Aug 9, 2010

REcently picked up a vintage russian strop on eBay that has some buckling in it. Was going to lather it up with palmolive and let it dry overnight, followed by treating with monk oil (No nicks or cuts to sand out).

Question is: How do I straighten it out and when during this process should I do that?

jtrops · Aug 9, 2010

I will assume that your strop is cupping up or down. If it isn't bad I have had good success with lather and a smooth glass bottle. Lather the strop and lay it on a flat surface, then rub the glass bottle over the strop from end to end. I do it until I start to feel a bit of draw from the strop.

If you have more pronounced cupping you can use your thumb and forefinger to squeeze the strop against the cup to flatten it out, and then follow with the lather and bottle trick. I have a strop that cups occasionally, and I have to remove the cup using the two methods above. If someone has a method that's more permanent I'd be happy to hear it, but for now this works well, and doesn't take that long to do.

EDIT: Post 100! I had no idea.

Defend Tacoma · Aug 9, 2010

I tried using a coffee cup on my starshaving strop. It seems to have worked great! :thumbup:

Joe Edson · Aug 9, 2010

jtrops said:
I will assume that your strop is cupping up or down. If it isn't bad I have had good success with lather and a smooth glass bottle. Lather the strop and lay it on a flat surface, then rub the glass bottle over the strop from end to end. I do it until I start to feel a bit of draw from the strop.

If you have more pronounced cupping you can use your thumb and forefinger to squeeze the strop against the cup to flatten it out, and then follow with the lather and bottle trick. I have a strop that cups occasionally, and I have to remove the cup using the two methods above. If someone has a method that's more permanent I'd be happy to hear it, but for now this works well, and doesn't take that long to do.

EDIT: Post 100! I had no idea.

Do you let the lather dry overnight, or do you just lather it up and proceed to roll a glass bottle over it?

jtrops · Aug 9, 2010

I've done it both ways, and it seems to work regardless. I generally just do it when the lather is wet, and so the bottle slides easily over the strop when you start, but as the lather goes into the leather, and dries you will feel the draw increasing. Once I stop I let the strop sit over night on the table before I use it, and it lasts a while before I need to flatten it again.

honed · Aug 16, 2010

jtrops said:
I've done it both ways, and it seems to work regardless. I generally just do it when the lather is wet, and so the bottle slides easily over the strop when you start, but as the lather goes into the leather, and dries you will feel the draw increasing. Once I stop I let the strop sit over night on the table before I use it, and it lasts a while before I need to flatten it again.

That is just the way I do it myself & it seems to work fine!

Kees · Aug 16, 2010

I use an iron, lowest heat. Works a treat. Keep a tea towel between leather and iron.

natchez · Aug 17, 2010

My method is much like using an iron, but took more time.

I picked up an old very nice old strop that was pretty bent. So, I wet the strop, put it on a flat surface, put a towel over it, and weighed it down with heavy books overnight. Seemed to straighten it just fine.

After it was totally dry, I used a small amount of leather conditioner, Lexol, on it. But, that just has the same effect as some lather. It puts a little oil or fat into the leather to keep it from drying and cracking over time. If it is really dry you could use neatsfoot oil.

If it is wrinkled, rather than bent, oiling and smoothing with a bottle should be a good method.

Joe Edson · Aug 17, 2010

Update: I used the lather and wine bottle method and it works pretty well. AFter an application of saddle soap, I think it is ready to go. The linen component also cleaned up really well - it is now very clean and back to white. Really happy how it turned out, but now the true test as I've yet to use it.

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Flattening a strop

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