When we shave with our straight razors, the edge gets taken out of alignment. Stropping between shaves realigns that edge to keep it keen and helps extend the time between honing.
This is a 3" wide high-quality handcrafted vegetable-tanned cowhide strop in deep blue color. It has a generous total length of 25" including the hardware. The leather belts are 21" long. The strop has a 2 component backing belt that offers a choice of polypro webbing and 100% cotton.
Since some people prefer synthetic backing and others prefer natural cotton, I decided to add both to my strops and give the user a choice.
This veg tan full grain leather is a thick 8-9 oz cut from the shoulder area of the hide. It is an excellent quality piece of vegetable-tanned leather!
The leather has a bit of firmness but flexes and bends fairly easily. After fully broken in it will have a medium range draw.
Since this is a hobby & passion I love, I am making & selling these strops at only a minimal markup over my cost of making and selling them. I am pricing the strops at half the cost of similar quality ones on the market.
I wanted to give people who enjoy straight razor shaving an opportunity to purchase a top-of-the-line strop for a fair, affordable & reasonable price. I make these beautiful old-school hanging strops by hand in the "Duke City" Albuquerque New Mexico. They are made with the highest quality leather and hardware. If cared for and used properly, these strops are made to easily last a lifetime.
The very low-priced strops you see online are made with what is called genuine leather. It is just a marketing term used to make people think they are getting something good. The bottom layer of the hide is the weakest and lowest-grade leather. It is considered junk leather in the industry and to the leather craftsmen. This weak low-grade bottom layer of the hide is sold to places that process it and sell it as "genuine leather." Just something to think about when purchasing a strop or any leather product.
I only purchase full or top-grain high quality leather from reputable suppliers & tanneries.
Note: Leather is a natural material, so the hides can have some minor cosmetic imperfections like little scars, blemishes, light surface scratches from the handling process, etc. This is absolutely normal, especially with high quality full grain leathers that have not been surfaced, and have their full structure. I make sure my strops have a surface that is perfectly suitable for stropping. Any minor aesthetic imperfections will be minimal, are merely cosmetic that will not affect stropping in any way.
I include 2 hooks for hanging and using the strop. One hook to hang the strop, and a second hook you can use to hold the top leather belt when accessing the natural colored cotton part of the backing belt. To access the polypro part of the backing belt, you simply rotate the strop over with the swivel.
This listing is for the deep blue full grain vegetable-tanned cowhide leather. If you would like to see other strops available, please see my listings for those options.
FAQ'S:
Q: HOW DO I CONDITION THE LEATHER?
A: PALM STROPPING WILL IMPART OILS FROM YOUR SKIN INTO THE LEATHER KEEPING IT NATURALLY CONDITIONED INDEFINITELY. IT WILL ALSO HELP SPEED UP THE BREAK IN PROCESS. ALTERNATIVELY YOU CAN USE A PRODUCT LIKE NEATSFOOTS OIL, MINK OIL, ETC A COUPLE TIMES A YEAR.
Q: WHICH ONE OF YOUR STROPS IS BEST?
A: THIS IS SUBJECTIVE AND IS A PERSONAL OPINION BASED ON THINGS LIKE COLOR, FEEL, DRAW, ETC. ALL MY STROPS ARE HIGH QUALITY VEG TAN AND DO AN EQUALLY EXCELLENT JOB OF MAINTAINING AN EDGE WHEN USED PROPERLY.
Q: WHAT IS THE FABRIC STRIP FOR?
A: THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THE FABRIC IS TO PREPARE THE BLADE FOR THE FINE LEATHER. IT WILL CLEAR THE EDGE OF POSSIBLE THINGS LIKE DUST, SOAP SCUM, MICRO BURRS, ECT. ALSO FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO USE ABRASIVE SUBSTANCES LIKE COMPOUNDS, PASTES, OR SPRAYS , IT CAN SERVE AS A PLATFORM TO APPLY THEM.
Q: I AM NEW TO USING A STROP & I AM WORRIED I WILL CUT AND RUIN THE LEATHER, WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND?
A: THE MAIN REASON LEATHER GETS CUT IS BECAUSE OF TRYING TO STROP TO FAST OR INACCURATELY. SPEED IS ABSOLUTELY NOT NECESSARY WHEN STROPPING. STROP SLOW & METHODICALLY BEING MINDFUL TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE ROTATING ON THE SPINE WITHOUT LIFTING THE RAZOR. GO AS SLOW AS NEEDED TO ASSURE YOU ARE DOING IT PROPERLY. ALWAYS EDGE TRAILING, AND NEVER EDGE LEADING STROKES. STROPPING IMPROPERLY CAN NOT ONLY CUT THE LEATHER BUT CAUSE PREMATURE BLUNTING OF THE EDGE. WATCHING VIDEOS FOR A VISUAL AID CAN BE VERY HELPFUL. PRACTICE ON ONE OF FABRICS BEFORE USING THE LEATHER. IF YOU GO SLOW AND EASY YOU WONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT CUTTING INTO THE LEATHER. AS YOU BUILD UP MUSCLE MEMORY YOU CAN INCREASE YOUR PACE IF DESIRED.
STRAIGHT RAZOR SHAVING IS ALL ABOUT TAKING YOUR TIME AND ENJOYING THE WHOLE PROCESS & EXPERIENCE!
Thank you for looking & happy shaving everyone