Originally Posted by
hidestoart
I have seven strops that all live in the bathroom. My humidity is an average of 65% and goes to 84% to 87% during a good rain after my wife and I take a shower in the morning.
For what it is worth - There are saddles from the crusades in museums, some of the saddles from the hay day of the American west are still around. Everyone of those saddles saw rain, mud and sometimes blood as well as snow and ice. Not to mention the leather scabbards of swords from the mid evil times. What each of the above leathers have in common is someone cared enough to clean the dirt & blood off and oil them.
Leather is nothing more than a skin from some kind of critter that has been treated so it will not rot or stink. To keep it pliable either the fibers in the hide are broken down or oil is infused to keep it pliable. The biggest killer of leather of any type is lack of oil and air movement. I can not tell you how many times I have had a customer bring me a gun belt, holster or a bag that belonged to Great Grand Daddy that had dried out and rotted because it was treated as a shrine and kept in a closet and not oiled. If a piece of quality leather including a strop is simply kept clean by wiping it down with a damp cloth, is oiled and has air movement, it will last you your lifetime and your kids should be using it. Oil is the food leather needs and just like kids, your leather "anything" needs a bath and fresh air.
To bring this home go back to when you were a kid and think about your ball glove. How many times did it get wet and dirty, how much dog slobber got on it? If you oiled it and kept it out of a plastic bag - Well good chance is it is still around