New Strop grainy in one spot, Normal?

Hey Guys, I'm a Newbie so please bear with me..LOL. My Star shaving 3" English Bridle strop just arrived by mail and I have a question about it. It was coiled up in a box, not a tight coil it fit the box good. Right in the middle of the strop (smooth stropping side) the leather when straightened out has a grainy texture to it. It's not all that rough but you can feel it. I rubbed it with my hand until my hand was warm and that seemed to help smooth it a bit. I'm new so is this normal? Will it make for a bad stropping? Other than that it seems very well made for $40. Here is a pic, tell me Guys what you think. Thanks

Jimmy

Difficult to tell in the picture, but smoother would be better. A quick cure may be to glass it. Good clean smooth label free glass bottle rubbed vigorously over the surface. Hold some tension on it just as you would stropping, but apply more pressure with the glass than you ever would with a razor and really give it a good going over. I recommend this for nearly all new strops to speed break in.

When it was shipped was it coiled strop side out, or in. Leather should always be rolled smooth side out to prevent damage.

It was strop (smooth) side out.

Jimmy

I contacted Star Shaving by email (no phone number) the day I received it which was yesterday morning 8/1/14 and explained the situation with a pic. It's only been one day but no response yet, hopefully I'll hear from them Monday. After reading this forum and the guys giving me advice I think a replacement leather or a refund is the only fix to this situation. Star Shaving I read is a good company and I have full confidence they will take care of it. I will keep you guys posted.

Jimmy

Yup those are stretch marks from bending the strop

Yeah I wish they would have mailed it flat instead of rolled in a box. I'm hoping to hear from them tomorrow although the more I read about them I see there hard to get ahold of. We'll see, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Update: Karla from Star Shaving emailed me this morning and apologized and said they will send a replacement leather right out to me. I received the strop Friday morning 8/1/14 and emailed them about the problem Friday. So I'm very happy that they got back with me so quick and is taking care of the problem. I'll let you guys know when I receive the replacement and what it looks like.

Jimmy

Update: Karla from Star Shaving did send me a replacement leather as she said she would. It looks way smoother than the first one although there is a very slight indention right in the center of the strop. It's about the size of a pea and is slightly below the surface so the razor should glide right over and not cause a problem I think. Here is a pic (the divet is right in the center of pic ) guys tell me what you think. Thanks

Jimmy

jimp1967 said:

Update: Karla from Star Shaving did send me a replacement leather as she said she would. It looks way smoother than the first one although there is a very slight indention right in the center of the strop. It's about the size of a pea and is slightly below the surface so the razor should glide right over and not cause a problem I think. Here is a pic (the divet is right in the center of pic ) guys tell me what you think. Thanks

JimmyView attachment 481974

Click to expand...

That's not a problem... It's a natural material so it'll never be perfect for that price... But at least it's not wrinkled... Just rub the smooth side of a glass bottle on the spot

Thanks Heespharm, I will do.

Jimmy