Thread: Lathering a strop

I have been talking with an old barber who believe it or not is 86 years old and still barbering. He used to shave his customers with a straight for many years. He told me never to put any kind of oil on a strop, including neatsfoot oil. He told me to get a good thick shaving lather up and put that on the strop and use a smooth glass bottle like a soda or beer bottle to rub back and forth on the strop. I was reluctant to do that to my strop but he insisted. I use the Walmart soap made by Van Der Hagen. It is good stuff. Anyway I was amazed. In only a minute the strop became supple like never before. When the surface dried it was really nice. I'm really glad I did that. He said to do that about twice a year or more.