Thread: strop dressing

Does anyone knows reasonable side to buy strop dressing for conditioning.thank you

Hi!

I didn't fully understand your question, but here's my own view on the matter: lots of companies make and sell strop dressings. I never used any dresings or creams meant for conditioning strops. I found out - because I've always used leather shoes... - that Nivea Hand Cream (the one in the little blue tub) is very good for conditioning leather. With that in mind, I decided to condition my strops with that same cream. I find it to give a nice smooth finish, hydrate the leather and give the strop a bit of draw... It's very good to hydrate and soften a strop after repairing some nicks...
Just apply with your fingers in a evev circular motion, rub it in and then buff it up with a clean cloth. Let it air dry and there you are!
I like it a lot and think that it can be an alternative to strop dressings... I could, of course, be wrong... But other more experienced guys will chime in and say their minds!

Hope this helps!

No arguments with the hand cream idea here. Most strops are already conditioned before you get them, so it may not be necessary to have "dressing" in those cases, still....There are several versions of strop dressing made, the bottle of Illinois strop dressing is basically a lotion, and the same thing can be found in a shoe store. The stuff Dovo gives out with their strops (the yellow tube, not the abrasive stuff) is basically just grease and lanolin of some sort. Most of our vendors who sell strops also sell dressing, but as you may have surmised, it isn't any special trade secret.
Another product that works extremely well is mechanic's hand cleaner (the non abrasive "Goop" or "Gojo" kinds). Just a dab, rub it in all over the strop and give it a day to dry after wiping the excess, and you're set. Afterwards, just the oil from your hands is often good enough.

John P.

I cut my DOVO leather strop on several places, and rub with pumice till the cuts gone. Now, looks like new.
Nearly I order Strop Dressing from ClassicShaving, then I saw fpessanha sententious post about Nivea Creme.
I have one at home, but, Nivea creme are extremly fat. So, if is your theory chinch, I will try use NC on leather strop. Or, even I need Strop Dressing?

Sham,
if you mean conditioning the leather, a very good product is Lexol
that can be found @ any auto supply store .


you need the brown bottle, it is what I use to clean my bench strop from CrO when it needs to be replaced.

Good to know, thank you!
Also I wait fpessanha review, it's interesting.

This is from The Canadian Conservation Institute :


« Many leather dressings are available on the market: British Museum Leather Dressing, neat’s foot oil, lanolin, etc. However, recent research shows that dressings may not be effective in preserving leather (McCrady and Raphael 1987). Unless the oil content of the leather is known, through chemical analysis, to be below the optimum level for leather, the application of additional oils from a dressing may in fact cause further stiffening by dehydrating the leather (Stambolov et al. 1984). Furthermore, many oils and fats used in leather dressings lubricate in the short term but oxidize with time, resulting in additional stiffening of the leather. Many other problems are created by applying a leather dressing, including the risk of attracting dust or insects, darkening the leather’s surface, or staining surrounding materials. »

More here

Bolds are from me.

Regards


McKie

Damn, now is questionable use dressing or not....

If you don't use dressing it will disintegrate sooner.

Nothing is forever.

I'm not sure if Sham was asking about conditioner or a light abrasive such as the Dovo pastes ? The old barber I knew back in the '80s, seems like yesterday, recommended using a light abrasive paste on the leather and the linen but I never have. I know Classic sells the Dovo paste, not sure if SRD or Vintage does.