Thread: Leather honey

Anyone have feedback on leather honey conditioner on a strop? Cons?

Sorry, never heard of it. I use saddle soap or sometimes a tiny bit of neetsfoot oil. You can also rub strop with palm of hand before each use to transfer some body oil to strop.

Good stuff! Just use it sparringly, then use a damp rag to push it deaper into the leather. I've used that and leather thearapy and they work great! Less is more when you apply it, be very stingy with it.

I would be hesitant to apply leather honey to a strop. I use it for my leather goods in general, like my satchel, boots, and my wife's handbags, but man that stuff is thick and sticky.

Use it sparingly if you try it... you can't take it off once it's applied that's for sure.

Personally I use coconut oil... again just a little maybe once a year. I'd use neatsfoot oil if I had it on hand, but not keeping around another bottle for annual use when coconut oil seems to be working...

Thanks for the input everyone, I may look into gett8ng some neatsfoot

Originally Posted by Hatch

Thanks for the input everyone, I may look into gett8ng some neatsfoot

If you want the right stuff, it's neatsfoot/neetsfoot...

Honestly though you will need it very infrequently. Too much and it will slow the draw, and then you're kind of stuck for several months until it dries out.

Originally Posted by HungeJ0e

If you want the right stuff, it's neatsfoot/neetsfoot...

Honestly though you will need it very infrequently. Too much and it will slow the draw, and then you're kind of stuck for several months until it dries out.

You want the bottle to say "100% Neatsfoot Oil". Mine is made by Fiebings.

What is in Leather Honey, I could not find an ingredient list.

A lot of leather balms containing wax for protecting leather for use on boots, shoe and furniture. I suspect it is an oil and bees wax blend.

You may or may not want the wax for applying to a strop. For hydrating most any natural oil will work, traditionally neetsfoot or Ballistol for leather hydration. Read the ingredients many commercial oils are a blend of natural oil and mineral oil, this is quite common with olive and nut oils. I prefer a pure natural oil; it is easy to find if you look. The same goes for neetsfoot oil, read the ingredients.

I have used, Neetsfoot, Ballistol, and currently Pomace Olive oil. If you want to hydrate use oil, do apply sparingly and slowly over day, weeks or months depending on the condition of leather you are trying to revive. Just a ½ teaspoon for maintenance.

Wax will add a bit of slickness, but will slow the absorption of future oil, though you can oil from the back.

It is not a big issue, any oil is better than nothing, but once applied it can never be completely removed.

There are many posts on hydrating and oiling leather in the strop forum.

Fiebing's is a good brand of neatsfoot oil. It's what I currently have in the shop. Neatsfoot oil is the standard, and has been used for generations. No reason to try some new product that costs just as much, and hope that it works as well as neatsfoot oil, IYAM. Oil is oil, to a certain extent, and there are many oils and moisturizing compounds and waxes that will increase the suppleness of a strop or preserve the finish on the hair side. The question is for how long? Which treatments will break down or cause the strop to break down over many years? Honestly, for a cheap strop not meant to be an heirloom, it doesn't matter all that much as long as it doesn't increase the draw more than you like. You can even use filtered beef tallow, but I wouldn't put it on a nice strop meant to last 40 years, and you are saving HOW MUCH money treating a strop with such alternatives, vs neatsfoot oil? YMMV. No, they don't carry it at Walmart and probably not at Home Depot. But this is the internet age and you can certainly find it online, even cheaper than your local saddle and tack shop. You got one in your neighborhood, right? LOL. Seriously, just buy a small bottle online. If you only use it for your strop, it will outlive you.

We straight shavers just HAVE to mess with stuff. Consequently we often go overboard and this is very much a thing with applying oil to strops. The classic advice of hand rubbing a few drops of neatsfoot into the strop every month is sound, and you will never over-oil a strop like that. Some new strops, and actually what I mean is new CHEAP strops, benefit from an initial treatment of having the neatsfoot oil liberally painted on, both sides, then hanging for a week or two so the oil will migrate. If it feels stiff as a board, and it is a very light tan/beige color, and it is a new and cheap strop, probably it isn't carrying much oil in it. So just paint it on there and let it soak in and equalize throughout the leather. It should darken to a light brown color and get a bit more flexible. From that point, just do lots of hand rubbing, and every month sprinkle a few drops in your hand and rub it in. In a year it will look and feel like you paid twice as much for it, if you don't nick, gouge, slice and scratch it do pieces.

There are a few remedies for a strop that has too much oil in it. None will put the strop back in service in minutes or hours or even days. You can pack a strop in clay-type kitty litter or garage/shop floor oil absorbent, especially the dust in the bottom of the sack. Let it work for a couple of weeks. Clean with saddle soap and a soft rag and then put it back in service. I have heard of using fine sawdust in the same manner as the kitty litter though I haven't used it myself for that. You can press between newspaper, though sometimes you will get some ink transferrence. Or you can just accept your punishment for over-oiling and use it normally for a few months. Eventually it will normalize to a degree. Rubbing with an old tshirt every time you attempt to use it seems to help. Do the hair side, then the flesh side.

I use this in the neutral cream on all my strops and have had zero issues

https://www.zoesmfgco.com/venetian-shoe-cream

I take a cotton sock and put it on like a glove and apply the cream to the cotton sock and then go back and fourth on the strop like I am palm rubbing and do about 30-40 good back and fourth rubs and then apply a bit more and move to the next strop, I only do this 1-2 times a year and I also use a damp cotton sock with water only and do the same.

Leather needs hydration so water is needed along with some essential oils to keep them in great shape but lots tend to over do the oils and once it’s applied you can’t get it out so it’s best to go slow.