Confusion on oiling my strop...

So I have a packet of Neatsfoot Oil (30ml) from Whipped Dog Straights. On the packet it says that I'm to "Apply sparingly, but regularly to leather strop." In Lynn Abrams "The World of Straight Razor Shaving" DVD he mentions only applying Neatsfoot oil to the strop once or twice a year, rubbing it in well and letting it rest a few days before wiping off the excess.

So which one is it? Do I only apply this once or twice a year or do I apply it frequently (like once a week or month)?

Thanks in advance for your advice! :)

I have never did anything to my strop besides rub it with my palm and never had an issue.
It's a SRD strop. I would say if it doesn't need it, don't apply it. JMO

That's some pretty good advice. I wouldn't use Neats Foot Oil if I used anything. If it needs any conditioning at all my preference would be to use From strop treatment and only a dime size dollop on the suede side not the stropping side. But, that would be very infrequent. All you'll need is to rub it vigorously with your palm to warm it before you use it.

Chasmo

Neatsfoot oil has been around a donkey's age and is used to treat leather to keep it supple. If used as recommended, sparingly, well rubbed in, let dry a few days before being wiped dry, should not harm a leather strop. I have used it to bring back old stiff as a board strops to life. I guess if and how often you use it would depend on how stiff/dry your strop is in the first place.

Bob

I recently picked up an old Illinois 6454 shell strop. Probably hadn't been used in 30 years or so, but was actually in pretty good shape and not terribly dried out. Rubbed in fairly dry tallow based lather and worked the strop with my hands for a good bit and let it rest for a few days with occasional palm rubbing. It's currently performing at 100%. If we're dealing with a new strop, Palm rubbing should be completely sufficient. If the strop starts to feel dry, lather works wonders, so will minimal neetsfoot.

Remember! You can only do nothing once.

I got an SRD strop back around May and palm rub it everyday. Last week I applied a dime sized dollop of mink oil to it because it sounded dry. That fixed the problem. All I can say is, if it sounds dry, then it needs to be oiled. I have to oil my knife and chisel strops about twice a year as well.

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Originally Posted by QuietListener

So I have a packet of Neatsfoot Oil (30ml) from Whipped Dog Straights. On the packet it says that I'm to "Apply sparingly, but regularly to leather strop." In Lynn Abrams "The World of Straight Razor Shaving" DVD he mentions only applying Neatsfoot oil to the strop once or twice a year, rubbing it in well and letting it rest a few days before wiping off the excess.

So which one is it? Do I only apply this once or twice a year or do I apply it frequently (like once a week or month)?

Thanks in advance for your advice! :)

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You have not said what leather or brand your strop is much less what condition it may be in. You will and have received advice that may or may not be relevant.

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Originally Posted by lz6

You have not said what leather or brand your strop is much less what condition it may be in. You will and have received advice that may or may not be relevant.

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I'd bet two dollars it's a Whipped Dog.

Chasmo

I have a Tony Miller strop, my 2nd strop. I was very happy palm rubbing the strop for months, even palm rubbing just to palm rub. Then for no reason other I had the stuff around I use the smallest portion of Dovo strop dressing, rub it in my palms and on the strop. There is a lot of muscle memory in stropping...and that small amount of dressing slowed down the draw so much that it felt like another strop and I really did not like it compared with the pre-dressing version. It bothered me so much I ordered another leather component which Tony was calling a fast draw strop and he wasn't kidding. So the original strop goes into a plastic sleeve for a few months and recently I decided to put it back as the leather component....and guess what? It magically returned to it's original draw. So in my limited experience you can change the draw on a strop with an oil or grease, this might not bother you. I'm with Entropy1049 although I guess tallow is grease, I'm still with him.....I think he is a scientist.

Personally I wouldn't do anything other than hand rub, unless its a vintage strop thats dryed out. The oils in your hand is all the conditioning a good strop needs.

I had a leather couch and two Ekornes chairs that were 20+ years old and looking pretty dry with almost all their color gone. I applied the neats foot to them doing several coats over several days and they are now soft and look like new. Would I apply it to my strop, NO

Forget what anyone's "instructions" are, just use as much as you need to bring the strop back to condition.

The only thing I've ever used on a strop, and that was once on a new strop and once on another that had dried out, was some Fromm's Strop Conditioner, and that was a dime sized dollop, other than that, you shouldn't have to do anything other than frequent palm rubbing.

Here is my rule:

New Strops: Palm rub daily with NO oil or strop paste.

Vintage Strops: Rub very little oil or paste at a time until it is suple again.

Another variable that has not been mentioned on the thread is your local climate, if you live in a very hot and dry climate you may need to apply oil or paste more frequently.

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Originally Posted by Chasmo

I'd bet two dollars it's a Whipped Dog.

Chasmo

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You may or may not be right. I simply did not want the member to get advice to oil or not
oil a strop until we know what the strop is.

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Originally Posted by QuietListener

So I have a packet of Neatsfoot Oil (30ml) from Whipped Dog Straights. On the packet it says that I'm to "Apply sparingly, but regularly to leather strop." In Lynn Abrams "The World of Straight Razor Shaving" DVD he mentions only applying Neatsfoot oil to the strop once or twice a year, rubbing it in well and letting it rest a few days before wiping off the excess.

So which one is it? Do I only apply this once or twice a year or do I apply it frequently (like once a week or month)?

Thanks in advance for your advice! :)

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Apply a little to your hand -- not so much that a door knob would be nasty for the next person.
Then rub the surface of the leather. Once or twice a year is all you need.

If your hands are naturally oily you may never need it. Do you leave hand prints on clean glass?

30ml could last 25 years...

The problem with neatsfoot is most folks don't realize how little you need and overdo it. I use it all the time on my strops. I live in single digit humidity which sucks the moisture out of everything (including me).

I usually just wet my hands a bit with neatsfoot and rub it in really good along the entire strop. Probably hardly a drop or two in total and I only use it maybe twice a year.

I purchased a solid hard bar of carnauba wax from Amazon. Cleaned and wiped my hanging leather strop (soaked both sides with a sponge) in very warm water. Waited for the strop to air dry and rubbed the bar liberally on both sides of the leather. I use the flesh side of the strop (unfinished) in place of crox on balsa wood. Finish my stropping on the smooth side of the leather. My razors glide across the leather and the edge is very keen. I read this tip on various shaving forums

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Originally Posted by feltspanky

I purchased a solid hard bar of carnauba wax from Amazon. Cleaned and wiped my hanging leather strop (soaked both sides with a sponge) in very warm water. Waited for the strop to air dry and rubbed the bar liberally on both sides of the leather. I use the flesh side of the strop (unfinished) in place of crox on balsa wood. Finish my stropping on the smooth side of the leather. My razors glide across the leather and the edge is very keen. I read this tip on various shaving forums

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I'd be cautious about that. Once you seal the leather with wax you're really not stropping on the leather but the wax. Then also how do you keep the leather from drying out. Once the wax gets into the leather it will never come out.

I wipe the strop every couple of days with a wet towel an allow it to dry. My edges are keen and deliver smooth shaves. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...t=carnauba+wax

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Originally Posted by feltspanky

I wipe the strop every couple of days with a wet towel an allow it to dry. My edges are keen with a smooth shaving edge. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...t=carnauba+wax

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Glad to see another carnauba user. I don't foresee ever using anything else on my leather strops. I cringe when someone posts about using neatsfoot. YMMV of course.

Well, this is alot of info! Thanks all!

To answer some questions. My strop is a cheap one I found on Amazon. After some reading I found most advised to get a cheap strop when first learning as I'd most likely destroy it over time. Later I can get a good one. I bought a Scalpmaster Barber Strop from Mid-States Beauty. It's a horse hide strop for about 12 dollars. It doesn't have any bad nicks or divots and it seems like a good smooth surface so I think it is ok for stropping. It seems supple enough right now I just wasn't sure if I needed to be oiling it to keep it that way or what.

Climate: I live in Pensacola, FL so humidity is high. I don't think it will dry out easily.

Well, what I'm getting so far is that I just need to palm oil it whenever I use it and that's really it. Thanks for all the advice! Keep it coming if there is anything else I need to know! Thanks all!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lz6

You may or may not be right. I simply did not want the member to get advice to oil or not
oil a strop until we know what the strop is.

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Roger that, I was only guessing what he had.

Chasmo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by QuietListener

Well, this is alot of info! Thanks all!

To answer some questions. My strop is a cheap one I found on Amazon. After some reading I found most advised to get a cheap strop when first learning as I'd most likely destroy it over time. Later I can get a good one. I bought a Scalpmaster Barber Strop from Mid-States Beauty. It's a horse hide strop for about 12 dollars. It doesn't have any bad nicks or divots and it seems like a good smooth surface so I think it is ok for stropping. It seems supple enough right now I just wasn't sure if I needed to be oiling it to keep it that way or what.

Climate: I live in Pensacola, FL so humidity is high. I don't think it will dry out easily.

Well, what I'm getting so far is that I just need to palm oil it whenever I use it and that's really it. Thanks for all the advice! Keep it coming if there is anything else I need to know! Thanks all!

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This is why I'm not a gambler. I'd have lost $2 on this one.

From my ways of doing things, it sounds like you are on the correct path. Strops are easy to ruin by trying to make them better and over correcting by adding too much of this gunk or that goop. It doesn't take very much to over do it. I've learned my lesson. Simple hand rubbing on clean leather.

Chasmo

When in doubt look at what the old barbers used to do when they were the real pros.

Back in the day barbers relied on their strops each and every day and stropped probably for every customer because even if the customer was not getting a shave a straight was used for trimming after a haircut. Barbers used the oil in the palm method for maint.

I'm afraid the thought of waxing a strop would cause them to turn over in their graves.