Thread: Brand new Illinois strop

I am on the verge of getting a new Illinois strop. I am being told it needs to be conditioned.

Do I need stop balm or just palm rub use, rinse and repeat?

I simply used mine as-is. It worked fine for me for about 5 years but I never liked the "linen" that they used. Then I treated the leather with my own paste compound, and I like it even better now. I made up two compounds, one with Chrome Ox and one without. I like both compounds but they have to be used on two separate strops.

Now I am looking for a nicer strop that can do more serious work. So I am having some custom ones made. I even had to order the linen from England. I have enough linen for about 15 strops if you want some so that you can make your own.

Ballistol, Neetsfoot or Olive oil. Look in the strop forum, lots of post on rehydrating a leather strop and washing linen.

Go slowly with oil, adding ½ ounce at a time to clean damp leather, wait 2-3 months to absorb and add more if needed. If you over oil it is hard to remove. Proper hydrating of leather, soaking and washing linen and rolling both will greatly improve performance, linen is often overlooked in razor maintenance.


A lot of folks will tell you to hand rub, but you will be rubbing dirt from your hands or airborne dust into the leather, look at your hands with a loupe and wipe you hanging strops with a clean damp white paper towel and see the dust that comes off. It is almost impossible to get it out once ground in. Dirty linen and leather strops will deeply scratch a bevel.

Washing linen will greatly improve it performance, linen is often overlooked in razor maintenance.

Balms contain wax and are for shoes and leather goods, not strops.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Ballistol, Neetsfoot or Olive oil. Look in the strop forum, lots of post on rehydrating a leather strop and washing linen.

Go slowly with oil, adding ½ ounce at a time to clean damp leather, wait 2-3 months to absorb and add more if needed. If you over oil it is hard to remove. Proper hydrating of leather, soaking and washing linen and rolling both will greatly improve performance, linen is often overlooked in razor maintenance.


A lot of folks will tell you to hand rub, but you will be rubbing dirt from your hands or airborne dust into the leather, look at your hands with a loupe and wipe you hanging strops with a clean damp white paper towel and see the dust that comes off. It is almost impossible to get it out once ground in. Dirty linen and leather strops will deeply scratch a bevel.

Washing linen will greatly improve it performance, linen is often overlooked in razor maintenance.

Balms contain wax and are for shoes and leather goods, not strops.

Ballistol and Neetsfoot oil are a better option than olive oil. While olice oil can be used, it has a high level of oleic acid which is mono-saturated. Over time, the oleic acid will oxidize and become rancid. The other two options do not have this issue. Coconut oil is primarily composed of saturated fatty acids so it has a lower propensity to become rancid, so it is another option.

This is all great info given. IMO, with this being a new strop not much is needed. You can just use it. But Look up rolling a strop and do that to loosen it up a bit. It does help soften it some. And take DVW up on his offer of the linen. The one that comes with those Ilinios strops is so harsh! Replace it with a nice linen. You will be better off.

Originally Posted by DVW

I simply used mine as-is. It worked fine for me for about 5 years but I never liked the "linen" that they used. Then I treated the leather with my own paste compound, and I like it even better now. I made up two compounds, one with Chrome Ox and one without. I like both compounds but they have to be used on two separate strops.

Now I am looking for a nicer strop that can do more serious work. So I am having some custom ones made. I even had to order the linen from England. I have enough linen for about 15 strops if you want some so that you can make your own.

Thank you very much, PM sent

I’ve been considering an Illinois strop (or Fromm I guess). Are they a decent beginner option?

Olive oil is what many saddle maker and tooling artist use to finish leather work with. After spending hundreds of hours making the product, I doubt they would recommend using a product that would damage their creation.

Any oil if applied too thickly and not allowed to penetrate deep into the leather will rot.

So, clean well and hydrate slowly. Just because a strop is new, does not mean that it does not need hydration, especially commercially made strops. You have no idea or what conditions that strop has been stored, when or if the strop was hydrated.

Even on new leather, a bit of oil and rolling will improve its performance. Illinois leather strop can also benefit greatly from a good wash and rolling.

Very pale, dry, and stiff veg tanned cow or steer hide can usually use a good bit of oil and rubbing to bring out its best qualities for stropping. Horsehide doesn't need it so much. Chrome tanned, not so much though generally chrome tanned leather is not well regarded for strops. Same for oil tanned leather. Latigo doesn't usually need much. Horse, not much at all and shell cordoban pretty much doesn't need anything, at least for the first few years of use.

I would avoid concocted balms and dressings. The last word is neatsfoot oil. Great stuff. I prefer rubbing a few drops in the palm of my hand and then hand rubbing. Some guys also apply beeswax and similarly, I recommend rubbing it on your hand and then rubbing the strop with your hand. Beeswax will change the draw, maybe not the way you intended, so on an expensive strop, just don't, unless you really know what you are doing.

When I am making a strop, I soak the oversize strip of veg tanned cowhide in water for a few days, then rub with a bottle, using a lot of pressure, rubbing again and again as the leather dries. When it is nearly dry I will add stuff to make it supple while still maintaining the compressed and refined surface, with those additives being usually very finely filtered beef tallow and neatsfoot oil. Sometimes a tiny amount of beeswax. For particularly dry leather I heat this (needed, for adding beeswax anyway) and apply to both hair and flesh sides with a brush, one time. I hang it for a few weeks, then hang the other way up for a few weeks. Oil migrates in leather so if the first application appears spotty at first, I don't feel no way about it. Anyway after hanging if it is still stiff, I will rub it with the bottle again and then hand rub with a few more drops of neatsfoot. I wait at least a week between subsequent applications but it usually doesn't take more than a couple. New veg tanned leather can absorb an awful lot and still be thirsty but better to put too little and have to add more than to put too much. In fact it is better to not quite use enough altogether, than to use too much. If it still seems a little dry, that's okay, and very likely it will be just fine after a few months use and regular hand rubbing.

When you get a new strop, especially a cheap one, often the leather has had no treatment at all since leaving the tannery. If it is a light sand color and sort of stiff, it can take a good bit of treatment. I would rub it in with the palm of the hand, repeating every few days, until the leather is a bit more supple. Don't overdo it. There is no benefit and you can end up with a soggy, weak strop that stretches and cups and just feels creepy to use. If the leather is about the color of a cardboard box or darker, this could just be dye but probably it has sufficient oil in it, and unless it seems like it is way too stiff for its thickness, I would not treat more than once, and then once a year. Shell cordoban shouldn't need anything at all for the first few years of service, except hand rubbing.

https://heirloomrazorstrop.com/ is a good source for a fairly high quality strop that won't break the bank.I think Tony is going to bring out a new lineup of single component D ring top and bottom beginner strops, and I imagine they will be priced appropriately for newbies. Keep an eye on his site, I don't know when he will have them listed. You can contact him directly and request a custom job but I think he stays pretty busy, so maybe he can, maybe he can't. I still haven't made the batch of strops I have been promising, but I still have a couple of my "Working Man" strops left, I think.TBH I think you get more bang for the buck buying from Tony Miller but I am not a competitive type seller. If I get all the business, I have to work harder and give up all my very little free time that I have. Being retired sucks because you never get a day off.

Plenty of guys got their start with the various models of Illinois strops. Nothing special about them but they have been making strops for quite a while. I don't care for the clamshell type hardware, myself. YMMV.

I went to Tony’s page and everything is back ordered. I can’t put anything in the cart or place an order.