Thread: Neatsfoot Oil, do you use it?

I have used mineral oil to clean my horse butt strop. It makes it slicker. The mineral oil I use is a non-oxidizing light mineral oil made for food prep, but any vet supply mineral oil should be fine.

In the past on other strops, I used some strop dressing or some such thing, but it was a mess. I use mineral oil only because it helps to wipe down the surface of the strop and in several years, I have never found it to harm anything. Neatsfoot is what my dad always used on baseball gloves, and it might be a bit safer than mineral oil (horse butt is cheap for me, it costs about $10 in butt strip to make a strop that will last a decade of use - I don't have much risk in using mineral oil on it).

The oldtime barbers had a strop hanging from the chair and used it over and over every day. Eventually the strop darkened and developed a patina to it and about the only thing barbers used was the oil from their hands or a drop or two of neatsfoot every now and then. Those strops lasted forever. Less is more I say.

I think like everything else we do here we over analyze things and we're like the guy who buys a new car and is out every month re waxing the car and looking for the latest and greatest wax or cleaner or preservative. These things are meant to age as long as it's not abused. That doesn't mean they don't still perform like new.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I use Neetsfoot oil quite often on Horn Scales for reconditioning, but never liked the results on a Strop

Note: Real "Neetsfoot oil" is a little harder to find nowdays the watchword is "Compound" if it says Neetsfoot oil compound, move on

When I used it on a strop I always just put a little on my hand and rubbed as normal, I never applied it directly to the strop.. I was told years back that it could breakdown the fibers if you used to much of it

I use the damp cloth routine maybe every 6 months, and maybe once a year use the Lather routine, that seems to work for me and I like the draw that comes with it

The stuff i got was 100% pure neatsfoot oil. Coastal sells it for saddle maintence. Its working really well on my english briddle leather and my latigo strop.

Deffinitly improved the action on my strops