Originally Posted by
Neil Miller
I would stay away from the neatsfoot oil for now - easy to apply, hard to get off. If you eventually do have a need to apply it, apply it from the back, sparingly. It will take a while to migrate through the leather, so don't expect results the same week!
The sticky spots are probably where the oil is coming out of the strop more. Try wetting an old t-shirt or similar and wringing it well out, then really working it over the surface of the strop. It should not saturate the strop, nor should it come anywhere near to making it wet, it is just to absorb any stropping residue and force the sticky patches to be smoothed out and re-applied more evenly.
Buff up with a dry towel (lint free) to get rid of any lingering wet spots.
As for where you have caught the strop, you can try burnishing it with a bottle with or without lather, but the passage of steel over the burnished areas will probably raise them again. What you are feeling is the raised edge of the nick. Flaps can be stuck down, nicks can be trimmed with a very sharp blade or bare razor blade - anything below the surface of the strop will not affect what is gliding over the top of it, providing they are small nicks and well separated.
If you have to sand then consider a broken in diamond plate of 600 grit or over. Whatever you do, do not use sandpaper - it will drop grit and work it into the leather. Instead use wet and dry paper that has been well used, so that there is no chance of it dropping any grit.
Regards,
Neil