Thread: Neatsfoot oil on a new strop?

I have used Neatsfoot oil on a fairly new strop that had begun to cup a bit. I used very little and felt it really helped to soften up the strop and enable me to remove the cupping easily. I have used this oil on many types of leather over the years and find that it darkens the leather only slightly once it has soaked in, immediately after applying there is significant darkening that mainly goes away.

What about strop conditioner from from?

I just got some Fromm"Illinois" strop conditoner. Put it on my Koken Horse hide shell cordivan strop by the directions that came with it & I feel like I have a new strop. I used very little & waited 24 hours to apply a second coat. All I can say is WOW!

Slawman

Check out this thread, post no. 9 Mike describes the proper way to add oil to a strop.

If you dampen the strop first, you swell the leather, then when you add a bit of oil it absorbs evenly, otherwise it will be blotchy.

Some strops can benefit from a couple drops of oil depending on the brand and how it has been stored. Do not add more than 2-3 drops at a time.

Wait a few days and if needed re-apply using the same process.

If you just want to change the color, dye it.

I too would not have pasted the back, most probably it will become contaminated and cause more problems than it solves.

Hopefully the back is at least smooth.

What brand of strop, is it?

Originally Posted by petecold

check this out on e bay horween strop needs nothing

Please don't hawk your stuff here.

And again, no decent new strop needs anything.

I aint hawking owt mate. you are not giving good advice
some leathers need treatment usually neetsfoot. but of course you seem to know better.
I will bow to your superior knowledge we are a bit backward in the uk it looks like I have been giving my friends poor advice for the last 50 years.
conversation closed....

Originally Posted by petecold

I aint hawking owt mate. you are not giving good advice
some leathers need treatment usually neetsfoot. but of course you seem to know better.
I will bow to your superior knowledge we are a bit backward in the uk it looks like I have been giving my friends poor advice for the last 50 years.
conversation closed....

You are welcome to close your part of the conversation, but I agreed to no such thing.

I know several intelligent people in the UK. If you don't choose to be one of them that is no concern of mine. However, the ebay strop you twice posted in this thread had absolutely no relevance to the topic of this discussion. You have posted that you make strops. Your username includes the name Pete, as did the eBay username for the strop seller. Both you and that seller are from the UK. If you are not the same person, then I apologize for that mistake; but that still does not explain why you tossed a couple eBay listings into this thread.

I completely agree that some leathers need treatment. If you read post #7, you will see that I have done it myself on old strops, but the post by the OP stated that his was a new strop. I am not aware of any new strop made of any sort of decent leather that would have a need for neatsfoot oil at the time of purchase.

We can all agree to disagree but keep it respectful. My opinion is this and it is mine only. I will give an example - Nice Tony Miller fast bridle 3" strop. Wonderful strop and I used it for a year then it seemed to dry out ( yes I rubbed it with my palm every day) Now even though it seemed dry ( or slick) it worked but I really like a heavy draw and it seemed to lose that. I applied light coats of neats foot oil several times and it is like new and has been for a couple months. It did not change color but it was already a dark cognac color. When I put it on my SRD cheaper natural colored strop it darkened it a bit. Still work fine however. The moral of this story should be - we all have different ways to prep, soaps, cremes, blades etc but whatever works for you is ok. It may not work for the next person and it does not have too. I love to read threads where people do things different than I do but if they are opinionated and their way is the only way, I tune it out

Is a strop that is shinny and smooth a sign of a dried out horse hide strop?

It is a strop off of etsy- with linen as well, so the diamond has a bit of protection. Depends by what you man by smooth on the back, it isn't smooth like the front of the strop, but I wouldn't call it rough.
I have touched up on it a couple of times and it seems to have done the job!
I have not to date conditioned it, only palm rubbing, love the draw and the sound.
I also have a whipped dog leather/ poly strop, while whipped dog sells a perfectly fine strop, I can feel the difference in the draw, as I did oil the whipped dog one. I am much more fond of the linen than the poly in terms of feel, but the sound of a razor on poly is pretty sweet!