Thread: Leave it on or take it off?

If the oil you put on the strop made the strop work wonderfully well for you, well... that's wonderful. It's certainly not going to rust the leather. On the other hand, the oil you used to treat the strop may not be a corrosion inhibitor for the razor. You could do a control test with some of that oil slathered on a none razor piece of shiny high carbon steel. Let it sit around for a while to see if it proves hygroscopic and encourages rust or, hopefully, proves to be a rust preventive as well as a strop dressing.

good luck, good stropping,

If you think your strop is too oily, apply some thick shaving lather and rub it in with a glass bottle. Add more lather as it absorbs. Do this for about 5-10 minutes. Wipe off all excess lather with a damp cloth then finish with a dry cloth. Finally dust the leather with talcum powder and spread it over the strop evenly. Let dry 24 hours on a flat surface. Use a dry cloth to remove all excess talcum and then rub the strop vigorously with your palm.

Your strop may feel very fast after this (or not, depending on how much residual oil might come to the surface of the strop).


Scott

Originally Posted by theworldover

huh. I wonder why I was under the impression that I should condition the strop. seems to work fine, as my shaves are awesome.

Hehe. I think Tony Miller has commented on this tendency to want to treat a new strop whether it needs it or not. I think it's just human nature. You hear that something can be done to make an improvement, so you get this urge to do it right away. And lets face it, most of us here are slightly obsessive about straight shaving.

Too true Rajagra!!

PuFF