Thread: Shave lather as Strop treatment

Hi everybody

Has anybody heard of rubbing some shaving lather into a strop
I read it online somewhere recently - forgot to save the link
Apparently it's an old barber shop treatment for strops

Any input appreciated

Rick

I"ve done it on a couple of strops that I thought were a bit 'TOO" Slick. By putting on a bit of shaving lather and letting most of it dry on the surface, it does increase the "Draw" IMHO.
After you let it dry of course a good rub down with a clean soft cloth helps a lot also.

tinkersd

Yes, applying shaving lather is part of my restoration regiment.

When I get vintage strops they tend to be deformed and dirty.
What I do is I start sanding the surface until it is clean.

I wipe the strop thoroughly and apply a very dry shaving lather. In fact, because it contains less water, I prefer lather out of a can.
I let it sit for an hour and wipe of the dry lather. Then I wipe the leather again.
Afterwards I apply leather conditioner (mostly oil) to the back of the strop.
yes, to the back. The oil soaks into the leather, making it subtle without greasing the stropping surface.
This gives me best results.

Usually I apply two coats of oil to the back.


Be warned about the shaving lather. It acts as a cleaner and soap residues on the strop will clog the fine texture of a leather.
It will affect the feel when stropping. Sometimes it makes too much draw!

I lather my strop up every month or so or whenever the draw seems diminished. I lather it up heavily at night, let it dry overnight and wipe it off the next day. I find it helps considerably with draw. I'll get build-up on the blade sometimes as I strop, but it is easy to wipe off (wet paper towel) and not much of a nuisance.

I had a cheap ebay strop that felt way too slick. I actually rubbed it with a puck of soap with no water until it had a nice coating and then rubbed the soap off with my hand trying to get it warm so the soap would melt down into the leather. It worked pretty well and increased the draw a lot.

I never do it but just consider soaps back in the day were different to the ones made now so the effect might be different. However if you review the posts on the subject you'll see many guys like to use lather. I would check the ingredients first though.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I never do it but just consider soaps back in the day were different to the ones made now so the effect might be different. However if you review the posts on the subject you'll see many guys like to use lather. I would check the ingredients first though.

+1, I guess it depends on the strop you have. I woudn't rub soap on any high quality leather product, (SRD Strop, Tony Miller, or Kanayama to name a few) If you need more draw, buy a strop that has more draw. Most soaps have a "drying" effect. It may work in the short term, but I think continued use will dry out the leather. What about the cleaning agents in soap? Think how your skins feels out of the shower. (unless you have a water softner)

Some still rub soap or lather on their strops. I think strop conditioner would be a better choice.

YMMV