Thread: Glycerine as strop conditioner

Rubbing my hand 100 strokes on my SRD Latigo every day (50 strokes each hand) wasn't keeping small areas of scratchy / rough / abraded areas from forming. I decided to try glycerin since my hands don't have much oil and tend to need lotion to keep from becoming chapped...

The first time I tried the glycerin on the strop, I sanded out a few 1/2 mm nicks on the edge, and wiped the surface with a damp washcloth (nappy / slightly rough) about a dozen times to get rid of the sanding grit. The next morning, the leather was noticeably smoother, and the strop had a very fast draw.

I went back to daily hand rubbing, and the draw very, very gradually increased. After a couple of months, I decided some areas along the sides looked (but didn't feel) drier than the rest of the strop, so I used glycerin again. The draw was essentially the same afterwards.

Further experimentation reveals that wiping the leather with a damp washcloth a half dozen times with very firm pressure, and then using glycerin results in a little smoother surface and a little faster draw. Glycerin without wiping firmly with a damp rag doesn't seem to change the draw on a strop that isn't "dried out" before hand.

Putting on way too much glycerin, and not waiting for it to fully dry (ie: it's 90% dry, what can it hurt to strop my razor now, rather than shave without stropping this morning) - turns out to increase the draw dramatically. When the strop finally drys, it has a noticeably "grittier" feeling surface though. Hand rubbing some more glycerin in, and waiting for it to fully dry makes the surface glass smooth again though.

Now I glycerin my strop every time I hone my razor - and wait for it to fully dry before stropping my razor. Just use 1 drop every 3 inches is enough, just keep rubbing - it will spread out to cover the strop eventually.

If I hone at night, and want to shave in the morning, I just skip stropping. I can't tell the difference.

ps: I experimented with not stropping for "travel" purposes, and find there was some difference on shave #2 when I skipped stropping, but I could compensate without too much trouble by watching my technique better. On shave #3, I could barely still compensate...

Did you use it in more of a restoration or a maintenance usage? The strop has some minor cracking and is pretty dried out.

I used the neatsfoot on a very dried out strop and it worked fine ,I also used glycerien afterward and so far so good,but use it sparingly as it absorbs water (humidity)

Well, I tried out the glycerine on the autostrop's strop. I started by using a very lightly damp cloth to wipe down the whole strop, front and back, and then let it dry out last night. Then using the glycerine I applied a very thin, light, even amount of it across the strop, first applying on the back, and then an ever lighter amount on the front. I spent some time rubbing it in and made sure there was no residual amounts, then give it a light wipe down with some paper towel. I let it hang for about an hour and then laid it out on a flat surface, using some heavier book ends to help keep it kind of stretched out, and rubbed the surface of it with my hands for a while. This has helped remove the kinking from it for the most part, and I've already noticed how much better shape the strop is in now. I'm going to continue leaving it pinned under the book ends for a bit longer and see how it fares, but so far the results are looking really good. It doesn't feel oily or greasy and it looks like it's in much better condition already. Hopefully, once I can actually try it out, the draw of it wont be affected...though, I wont have a prior usage comparison with it, because it was unusable before.

As mentioned above, commercially available oils can eventually break down the leather. I've now used the glycerine on two strops, and found that it has been very effective at restoring strops that have lost their suppleness. I don't think you want to overuse the glycerine, but it certainly improves dry or cracked strops without the oiliness. I think I would still go with the hand rubbing for strops in good shape, but that only need some breaking in. It has been several months since I initially tried the glycerine, with no adverse effects ... only improvement. I have given one of the strops a second dose of glycerine. As noted above, this has been recommended to me by a vintage leather restoration expert, who absolutely does NOT recommend the use of any oil.

If you already knew what you were going to do ,why did you ask what others had already done successfully?Just do what your comfortable with and get it over,Some times people on here are like my kids,they ask you a question and when you give them an answer they say "no"-so why did you ask? I'm not trying to be nasty but I read what others with old dry strops had done and tried what they said,like the glycerin,also plenty of folks have used neatsfoot with no ill effects. The only difference I have noticed is the draw is a little stronger on the one with glycerin.

Hah, understandable feelings about it. I think what's important is that glycerine doesn't get as much press as neatsfoot around these, and if you are already buying it for soap/lathering purposes, it's one less thing you would need to buy. That's the appeal of it to me anyways. If it is giving just as good of a result, then that's great. I'm new and I always want to hear the opinions of others, regardless of what I end up doing. Just because I decided to use glycerine on this strop doesn't mean I will use it on all others, and so I can avoid asking the same questions more than once, I ask even though the answer will sometimes not immediately affect me. I want to know as much as I can so I can make knowledgeable decisions, but at the same time, without simply trying things out, I can't actually figure out what I'm going to do. I appologize if that aggrivates you.

Originally Posted by aeon

Hah, understandable feelings about it. I think what's important is that glycerine doesn't get as much press as neatsfoot around these, and if you are already buying it for soap/lathering purposes, it's one less thing you would need to buy. That's the appeal of it to me anyways. If it is giving just as good of a result, then that's great. I'm new and I always want to hear the opinions of others, regardless of what I end up doing. Just because I decided to use glycerine on this strop doesn't mean I will use it on all others, and so I can avoid asking the same questions more than once, I ask even though the answer will sometimes not immediately affect me. I want to know as much as I can so I can make knowledgeable decisions, but at the same time, without simply trying things out, I can't actually figure out what I'm going to do. I appologize if that aggrivates you.

I wasnt aggravated,If you have kids of a certian age then you should get the comparision,sometimes people ask a question knowing full well that there mind is already made up about what there going to do. I personally dont have all or most of the answers so when I ask what to do about a problem I take the best answers and try them and then I have a base to work from,and know who to listen to. Its all good.

Wow! What a thread. Everybody seems to have a magic formula for breaking in or renewing a strop. I started with hand rubbing and realized I'd be old and dead before I'd see an improvement.

I then went with neatsfoot oil, first on my hands and then rubbed into the strop. You can always add more of whatever you are using, but you can't get it off if you use too much. That helped a little, but not much.

I finally got up the guts to do what the old barbers did. I brushed some shaving soap over the strop and let it soak in. Then I followed that up with some hand rubbing and then used a glass rubbing the strop for about ten minutes. I used a drinking glass, but a lot of people will use a bottle with the label removed.

I now have a lot of draw and a very smooth strop. Not sure what will happen in time, but I may not be around by then.