Thread: Strop dressing?

I've got an Illinois # 827 "Russian" strop. I've been using it for a few weeks, and I was wondering when I should apply the first application of dressing to it? There's a couple of scuff marks, but no cuts or nicks. Thanks in advance.

Just IMHO taking the palm of the hand and rubbing the strop under tension a half dozen times on a regular basis is better then applying any neatsfoot oil or strop dressing unless it is dry and you're afraid the leather may be on the verge of cracking. Some strop dressings have an abrasive in them and that is okay for a strop dedicated to being an abrasive strop but I like my main strop to be abrasive free.

Agree with Jimmy. I am not however a fan at all of any of the commercial strop dressings. If I need to use something, it's usually either neatsfoot oil or mink oil along with a lot of palm rubbing.

Lynn

Thanks, guys. I'll give it a good rubbing and let the oil in my skin work into it.