Clean linen side of a strop

I searched unsuccessfully so here is my thing.

My strop is a two part one. One leather band and a linen or cotton one.

On the back side of my fabric side i applied crox.

Now my question is. After uses and uses i want to clean that fabric. How can i do that?
How do i get the steel particle and the now caked paste off the fabric?

Rub zippo lighter fuel on cotton this removes traces of black then apply fresh crox

gary haywood said:

Rub zippo lighter fuel on cotton this removes traces of black then apply fresh crox

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Is this for real or a joke? I have one side covered with old CrOX that I want to clean up to apply a fresh layer... Or would it not make a difference if I just apply the fresh layer without cleaning?

eynlai said:

Is this for real or a joke? I have one side covered with old CrOX that I want to clean up to apply a fresh layer... Or would it not make a difference if I just apply the fresh layer without cleaning?

Click to expand...

I have never tried it, but CrOx usually has some waxy / oily carrier and Zippo Lighter fluid is pretty much naphtha, a solvent that should dissolve the carrier used with the CrOx. I would not want to get the lighter fluid on the leather as it would dry it out, but the suggestion does not sound like a joke.

That solution sound so crazy that it worth a try.
I guess i'll buy some zippo fluid

I use it on my livi loom strop I apply zippo fuel on a stage wipe it and the black is gone, then apply fresh stuff. This is what mastro livi does, so anton a good friend of his passed onto me. Of course you can apply over the existing paste.
The op asked how to clean linen, I,ve used it on leather also to remove build up of paste
gary

Gary is a genius on straight razor stuff. You can trust his knowledge.

Brianskeet said:

Gary is a genius on straight razor stuff. You can trust his knowledge.

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Besides, if you hate the results and tell us about it, we don't have to make the same mistake. jk (sort of)

naptha = Coleman fuel = cheaper

I finally gave it a try and here is a before after

Looks like it worked