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Vintage Stop Find and Questions

I picked up the strop the other day.

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It's hard to see in the photos but in the large silver badge at the top it says Russia.

Any recommendations about how To Recondition the Leather.

I'm also curious about the linen portion of the strop. The label on it says Fine Weave Linen finish. It feels like there is a waxy coating on it. Is it possible clean up the linen since this seems to be the really nice portion of the Strop.

I found it ironic that I paid $9.00 for it. The price stamp on the strop says $5.00

This is the first vintage strop for me.
 
Nice score. Congrats. The experts can weigh in on how to treat the linen. You can treat the leather with Neatsfoot oil (100% pure, not Neatsfoot compound) or a tallow shaving soap.

Cruise around the strop thread and you'll see lots of tips.
 
Once you clean the strop with a soap and clean /wash/ the linen ,you will find , that this strop is amazing deal for 10 bucs .My old strops work so good , congrats , and pay some special attention with fine sandpaper on the cuts /nicks /.
The talow soap will soften the leather a bitt , try the strop first , without ading oils on it .
it can be completely good and suple .
 
As has been mentioned, a tallow lather on the leather will help. One or two applications like this, let it rest for a spell, then wipe it off with a rag or a sponge. Personally, I would do this rather than adding neat's-foot oil from the start, which is better-used quite sparingly, on rare occasion.

The linen part can be separated and soaked in lukewarm water with Woolite or another gentle hand laundry detergent. Let it soak overnight then gently go over the treated areas with an old tootbrush. Rinse and then blot off in a folded towel, using a rolling pin and starting from the middle of the strop moving towards the ends. Then place the linen in another folded towel and let it dry for around 24 hours with some heavy books on it. Afterwards, it should be cleaned and ready for use. Only thing here is that the markings on the linen risk to disappear.
 
I would not put neats foot oil on it automatically. That will slow it down. Wipe it with a clean white washcloth and see what come off of it. Then try stropping and see if you like it. If it is really dry then change your tactics.
 
Thanks for all the advice.

One more question. The Linen seems to be treated with some kind of wax. If I clean it the wax should come off. Is it ok to use without the wax or will I need to reapply it.
 
The wax is probably just some treatment they used on the linen and/or years of buildup. I wouldn't worry about losing it.
 
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