Quote Originally Posted by fiveten73 View Post
Also what kind of lotion should you use for the leather of the strop to help condition it better.
The list of usual suspects are neatsfoot or mink oil or any of the myriad of leather conditioners.

I'm partial to Lexol products (both the cleaner and conditioner) as they are cheap, can usually be purchased at an auto parts store, are specifially formulated for leather, are one of the best products out there, and as a bonus they are less prone to "over dressing" the strop as some of the others. With the natural oils (neatsfoot and mink) it's real easy to overdo it if you aren't careful. Most strops already come "conditioned" and unless you live a very dry climate probably won't need anything for several months.

I've never had much luck with the rubbing your hand on it advice. My hands aren't that oily and I'm always afraid of contaminating my strops if my hands aren't squeaky clean.