I've always had a problem with this. There are many things you can do to condition your strop and to me adding chemicals found in today's soaps or water when you use saddle soap never struck me as something I wanted to do to my strops. I've always used either neatsfoot oil or some Bick conditioner and my strops are in tip top shape. I would use oil from your hand however I live in single digit humidity plus as you age the oils in your skin depart.