Thread: Neats foot oil

Is neats foot oil a good conditioner for a new strop? What are some alternate suggestions?

Neats foot oil seems like a good economical way to go as long as it does a good job.

Jack

Neatsfoot oil works fine on a strop. Just be very careful about how much you apply. Many members just rub their hand on the strop to let the oils from the skin work into the strop. If you do a search in the strop section, you should find a ton of good info. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along shortly.

Originally Posted by MattCB

Neatsfoot oil works fine on a strop. Just be very careful about how much you apply. Many members just rub their hand on the strop to let the oils from the skin work into the strop.

Excellent advice... I couldn't agree more.

When I use neatsfoot I usually apply some to my hand and then work it into the leather. Don't apply it directly to the leather.

It's great stuff when used very very sparingly and only when your strop really really needs.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

When I use neatsfoot I usually apply some to my hand and then work it into the leather. Don't apply it directly to the leather.

It's great stuff when used very very sparingly and only when your strop really really needs.

I hear you on that one. I have a strop and when I use it I strop and oil my razor at the same time.

A new quality strop really doesn't need any conditioning, IMHO, except rubbing your (clean) palm on it vigorously until your palm starts to feel hot. I do that every time before I strop.

Thanks for the advice. I have some aerosol leather protectant as well as Ballistol already. I was wondering if anything were better not only for leather preservation but mainly for the act of stropping. I used Ballistol on one strop and the razor seemed to DRAG across the leather with a lot of resistance. I got a little neats foot oil before and used it and the razor slides along the leather with almost no resistance at all. I was wondering about stuff like this. Sounds like I'm ok going with neats foot oil. Another thing is I'd like to get something I can use on other leather products as well.

Thanks.
Jack

Gentlemen,

A daily hand rubbing (before showering) will work wonders for a new quality strop. If a strop needs to be revived for various reasons, a light touch of Neatsfoot will help. Some gentlemen rub the Neatsfoot on the back of the leather and let it soak in that way. Either way, a light touch is advised. One reason the good Lord gave man a pair of hands was to use on a strop — or something like that.

I rub my unwashed hand over the strop vigorously to remove any debris and let the natural fatty acids from my skin get into the leather - sometimes I will even add a bit of "nose oil" from my unwashed face to my hand before rubbing down my strops. I have used nestsfoot oil but VERY sparingly - you can get a build up of the stuff which will change the dynamics of the stropping effect often detrimentally.

John

As Obie said I like the idea of treating the back of leather in a lot of situations. Especially when the leather will be outdoors. Knife sheaths etc. I like the idea for a strop also even though it won't be in the rain or anything. But it may be in a damp environment like an after shower bathroom. So keeping both sides protected sounds wise.

But I guess I'll just use my bare hand on the smooth side as most seem to like to do that. And no one has said it's a bad idea even though they may choose do use a product of some sort. Since adding something is easier than removing it I'll just go with the bare strop for now and use my hand for skin oils. I appreciate the input guys. Thanks.

Jack