Thread: MWF soap on strop.

Heres my theory....

To keep a strop in good order one must occasionally treat it with some form of conditioner. to keep it spft and supple.

Leather is just cow skin,

mitchels wool fast soap is a great for keeping the skin soft.
so would occasionally (once or twice a year as you would if you were using normal strop paste) dabbing a bit of lather from MWF soap help to keep the leather soft,
Or does something in the tanning process change the make up of the leather meaning that treating a strop with MWF would be pointles/harmfull?

Just an idea......

MWF is a wonderful soap that contains Lanolin, a skin softner. I use the bath bars as well as the shave soap. I'm not sure what the effects would be on fine leather. Soap has other ingredients too that may actually dry the leather out. For strop conditioning, I recommend Neetsfoot Oil or a good strop conditioner. I've only done the oil on an old vintage strop I restored. On new strops, all I use is the palm of my hand. That is to say, when I walk by, I occasionally give them a good rub with the palm of my hand. The oil from your skin is enough...

Rich

Big +1 on hand oil... It works great...

Also, on old or really dry strops, you can lather up GLYCERIN soap (never tried/heard of anything else being used, and glycerin soaps work great) and lather that onto the strop, then let it dry overnight, and brush the crust off, then rub it with the palm of your hand a little... It works well, but adds a little draw, so be cautious when doing it

i cleaned my strop the other day with some spair lather from my kent shaving soap witch is the same stuff as the wool fat far as i can figer and its clean bright and very supple so id say it works

Originally Posted by hazzardstar

i cleaned my strop the other day with some spair lather from my kent shaving soap witch is the same stuff as the wool fat far as i can figer and its clean bright and very supple so id say it works

Kent contains both Glycerin and Lanolin, AFAIK MWF is ONLY lanolin... Glycerin soap is the most common method.

I lathered up my Filly strop with MWF the other day in order to give it the old glass bottle treatment on the rough side and I'm very happy with it.

The back side is now much smoother and feels a lot nicer under the blade. I have yet to re CrOx it but I am pretty sure that the smoother leather will yield a better result than before.

As for the front, the leather here too has been smoothed and gives less draw than before but is really nice. I am so glad I gave it a try.

It is totally dry now and is just as supple as ever. It still gets rubbed by hand before use and is probably something I will do again.

Jim

I do not like what oil does to leather so I would never, ever oil a strop, neither are my hands especially oily. soap though is quite nice. I have used olive oil based soap and MWF. I think I liked the olive oil based soap better.

First I went over the strop with sandpaper with a good flat sanding block and flat substrate. Cleans the surface nicely and gives it a slight nap. Then rub down with soap and hand burnishing and with a cloth until the surface is uniformly shiny. I did not want to get the strop wet so i used the soap dry rather than a lather.

I've had very good luck with rubbing MWF lather into a cowhide strop and commented about it in some recent thread. No worries. It increases the draw significantly though, so if that's a negative for anyone, don't do it.

Chris L

Once or twice a year -- maybe.

A better thought is to put two drops of
Lanolin on your hands, rub your hands
together briskly then rub the strop
briskly... once in a while.

MWF is a fine shave soap and the lanolin
in the mix helps it build a fine lather but IMO
it is no more of a strop conditioner than
any other good tallow based shave soap.

There are many specialized products out there to keep leather performing at it's best. Personally, I don't like anything with water like saddle soap or shaving soap. Water and most leathers don't mix. I know many use soap and like it but that's just me.