Clean leather?

[MDWine]

I've stropped my knives several times now, I have one of the 'slipstrop' blocks from Flextool. It sure does a job, and keeps the edge very sharp.

The leather is dirty now, with the dark color from the stropping and the polishing compound. Should I clean the leather? How?

Once or twice, I've taken another blade and scrapped the 'dirt' off, I just wonder how necessary that is. The information that came with the strop didn't have much information in it along these lines.

Thanks in advance, I'm still reading and looking for answers!

[kaiserb]

You do not have to clean the leather very often. Your best bet would probably be a wire brush. Wisk it a few times across the leather and you are good to go.

[Irish]

Hi Michael,

I have always used saddle soap for the tanned leather strops. It cleans the leather very well and it refreshens it. The leather on your strop not only collects the rouging compounds and metal flakes it also dries out over time. Saddle soap replaces the natural oils that get lost. After the soaping let the strop dry over night. The next time you use it you will be able to feel the "bouce" back in the leather.

On the raw side of the leather I simple use my bench knife to scrap the loose fibers away.

You can get saddle soap at any tack shop (horse gear shop) and it's just great for your outdoor leather boots ...

Susan

OK ... this stupid thingie is putting a crying smiley in my words ... that's
S_A_D_D_L_E Soap

[Mitchell]

Susan, I kept reading and trying to figure out Sad = ?. It took a minute to come up with "S A D".

Anyway, I will use sandpaper to clean my strop occasionally. I think that the dirty strop still works, but it's hard to tell without actually seeing the color change - which indicates metal is being removed.

[dryheat]

I have cleaned hones by scraping off all the crud I can and then hitting them with a belt sander. This leaves a nice surface to reapply the compound on. If you just want to clean the hone, HandAmeircan recommend using waterless hand soap and wiping down with a rag. I have seen several hones that look to have a thick layer of black stuff, must be compound and removed steel, and they seem to work fine.

[kaiserb]

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[MDWine]

Thanks everyone.

I like the idea of cleaning it off a bit, I just scrape it with the back of a "lesser quality" bench knife I have. I will definitely try the wire brush thing, however, it sounds "quick"!

Santa is coming along, I hope to be ready for painting this weekend.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I have never cleaned a strop, if I think it is gunked up a bit, I just make a swipe with the back edge of a knife....don't use water on leather period! will harden the leather and shrink it!

[AlArchie]

You can also try scraping it with a broken hacksaw blade.....well, I suppose it doesn't HAVE to be broken.....tooth side for rough leather, and the back side for smooth leather.

Al

[Lindy]

Thank you for this thread! It's timely - I've been looking at my strop wondering how effective it still is with all that stuff on it. I think I'll try the wire brush idea!