Glycerine as strop conditioner

Just thought I'd pass a recommendation along from an old leather expert (he's not old, only the leather :)). I've seen a lot of recommendations for conditioning strops on the forum, and this relates, I think, and I would appreciate any thoughts or feedback.

I like old motorcycles, and one of the big debates/discussions in old motorcycle forums is how to restore old leather seats, saddlebags, etc. A couple of guys who are the gurus of motorcycle leather restoration swear that the only thing you should use on old leather ... either to restore it or to maintain it, is glycerine. All other solutions seem to bring up their ire ... neatsfoot oil, saddle soap, murphy's oil, mink oil, etc. Their concerns are around either synthetic additives that will ultimately degrade the leather, or more natural oils that will keep the leather from "breathing". Glycerine is a natural humectant that literally draws moisture from the air that keeps the leather from drying out (or replacing the lost moisture on dry leather) without the oil or synthetics.

I have recently purchased a vintage strop and am planning on cleaning it (as it seems to be a little "sticky"), and then will probably apply some glycerine. I'll report on the results once I've done this ... in the meantime, any experience or opinions are appreciated.

I use neatsfoot oil or mink oil on my strop.

But would love to hear how the glycerine works out!

I would like to hear how it goes as well. What sort of glycerine are you using the liquid form you use in cooking?

Using the veterinary product ... one of its uses is for applying to dry skin ... like sometimes elbows get dried and scaly ... just put a little glycerine on them, and it goes away. And unlike oily products, the results last a long time since the glycerine is absorbed, and keeps pulling moisture as long as it's there.

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Originally Posted by Tuxedo7

Using the veterinary product ... one of its uses is for applying to dry skin ... like sometimes elbows get dried and scaly ... just put a little glycerine on them, and it goes away. And unlike oily products, the results last a long time since the glycerine is absorbed, and keeps pulling moisture as long as it's there.

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Old tile guys use Corn Huskers Oil which is mostly glycerin, Works great on hands and elbows, don't know about leather.

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Originally Posted by Tuxedo7

Using the veterinary product ... one of its uses is for applying to dry skin ... like sometimes elbows get dried and scaly ... just put a little glycerine on them, and it goes away. And unlike oily products, the results last a long time since the glycerine is absorbed, and keeps pulling moisture as long as it's there.

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Yes but do you want something on your strop that pulls moisture into it? Conditioned leather ain't the same as living tissue.

Leather needs a certain amount of moisture in it to keep it pliable, that's why a 'breathable' surface loses moisture, dries out and becomes brittle. I can see that glycerine helps - it is used during the tanning process to encourage a calculated amount of moisture retention, but I'm not sure about loading a strop with it and then using it in a humid bathroom - can't imagine what that would do to the draw!

Most of us have used glycerine on strops whether we intended to or not - it is in a lot of shaving soaps used to lather strops with and in saddle soaps - but only in small amounts and with other ingredients. Saddle soap has glycerine and neatsfoot oil in it, for example, so it will moisturise and seal the leather.

Like thebigspendur says, a strop is dead. You can't apply the same laws to it as living tissue. The only thing I would add is that there have been people stropping razors long before there have been big burly bikers worried about their chapped saddle bags!

Regards,
Neil

I heard some peolple say they just rub their palms across it every day to rub in their own oils and brisk rubbing to soften the hide.

I don't know... I'm a newb, but I heard it somewhere and that's what I do. After all... I can only put so much stuff on my sinktop.

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Originally Posted by groundrush

I heard some peolple say they just rub their palms across it every day to rub in their own oils and brisk rubbing to soften the hide.

I don't know... I'm a newb, but I heard it somewhere and that's what I do. After all... I can only put so much stuff on my sinktop.

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Yes, that's very true. It's the original way most barbers maintained their strops.

Thanks for all the thoughtful input. Wanted to provide an interim update. As I mentioned before, a strop I purchased recently seemed to be a bit "sticky" with some built up "residue" ... maybe years of conditioner/neats foot oil, etc.

Anyway, I used a damp rag with shave soap to clean it (note - damp rag, and not water, as I didn't want to soak the leather). Anyway, after a pretty good cleaning, I noticed a couple of nicks and a shallow surface slice that had been covered/filled by the built up residue.

Once clean, I let the surface dry for 24 hours. At this point, the strop had lost its stickiness, and seemed to have a better surface for stropping, but the now exposed "crinkles", nicks, etc. made the stropping surface less than ideal. This morning I applied a light coat of glycerine to the surface (front, back and side edges), and within about a half-hour, the strop seemed to be supple with the various imperfections being made much less prominent, and the stropping surface seeming to be very smooth. I was tempted to strop a razor at that point, but held off. At this point, I had to get to work, but will take a look this evening, and see if the results are more than temporary. I'll also strop a razor and get a sense for any improvement in draw and razor edge improvement.

By the way, I agree with others above that I don't think the glycerine should be lathered on ... just as with any conditioner. It's always a temptation to overdo a good thing. I also think the point about where you keep your strop (i.e., steamy bathroom) should be considered ... you wouldn't want a glycerined strop to be hanging in a damp place to draw too much moisture and potentialy mildew or rot the strop.

Thanks again to all for the input. More to come this evening or tomorrow on my results.

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Originally Posted by groundrush

I heard some peolple say they just rub their palms across it every day to rub in their own oils and brisk rubbing to soften the hide.

I don't know... I'm a newb, but I heard it somewhere and that's what I do. After all... I can only put so much stuff on my sinktop.

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+1...This is the way I do it and it has worked so far :). Keeps the leather supple.

You don't know what you will do to your strop's property (draw, and other physical characteristics) when you apply glycerin on it. On living tissue, that's one thing...dead tissue: whole other story.

Thanks BladeRunner. Your point about draw (and other properties) is the key one, I think, and is one of the reasons I decided to give it a try on a strop I have less than $25 in.

I am going to be very interested to see how the glycerine affects the draw, as I feel pretty confident that it will improve the life of the strop.

It seems that there are about two to four key criteria for conditioning a strop, some of which would be shared with leather restorers, some of which might not.

First, preserving the life of the leather ... probably of interest to both.
Suppleness of the leather ... probably of interest to both.
Appearance of the leather ... probably more important to the restorer, but of some interest to both.
Moisture attracting/retaining characteristics ... probably of interest to both.
Draw/surface characteristics ... probably of most interest regarding strops, but surface feel would have some interest to the restorer also.

If you can think of other concerns/criteria, please let me know. Given the above list, it seems that probably the only unique concern for stroppers would be the draw/texture, and possibly a higher concern regarding the moisture attracting/retaining characteristics given the greater potential for use in a high humidity environment.

While strops have a different purpose than motorcycle seats and saddlebags, the reason the antique guys (the ones I've spoken with) use glycerine is that they believe that mink oils, neats foot oils, etc., are not uniformly manufactured, and may have properties/contain ingredients that will eventually contribute to the deterioration of the leather. For example, some oils and silicones apparently keep the leather, over time, from breathing and may actually seal in moisture, dust, dirt, etc., contributing to early deterioration. They believe that glycerine conditions without sealing and results in greater life. It seems that if this is true, it would be of interest regarding strops as well as motorcycle seats.

I am not yet advocating the use of glycerine ... just throwing it out for discussion, experiential feedback and testing.

Just to clarify the importance of this subject to antique motorcycle enthusiasts (while obviously not quite as dear as the skin on one's face :) ), the cost of an original leather 1930's-40's era OEM leather motorcycle seat (or pair of saddlebags) may range from $1,000 to $3,000, while a reproduction seat of the same style would cost about 15 - 20% as much. Obviously, if you were to drop that kind of cash on an original motorcycle seat, you would want to make darn sure that you didn't put something on it that would ruin it, and you would seek the advice of experts on how to best preserve it.

Again ... I'll report on the draw and surface characteristics in the near future, and keep an eye on the long term effects as I go.

Thanks again for all the thoughtful input.

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Originally Posted by Tuxedo7

Thanks BladeRunner. Your point about draw (and other properties) is the key one, I think, and is one of the reasons I decided to give it a try on a strop I have less than $25 in.

I am going to be very interested to see how the glycerine affects the draw, as I feel pretty confident that it will improve the life of the strop.

It seems that there are about two to four key criteria for conditioning a strop, some of which would be shared with leather restorers, some of which might not.

....

Again ... I'll report on the draw and surface characteristics in the near future, and keep an eye on the long term effects as I go.

Thanks again for all the thoughtful input.

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Well...the only way to know or find out for sure is to experiment on a cheaper strop (like the $25 you mentioned) over the course of 3 to 6 mos, maybe more if you wanted to be exact and find out about adverse effects over time.

Have fun...I (and I am sure others here as well) would certainly be curious about the results you get. :)

Well ... it's been over a week, and the results of applying the glycerine have been favorable. It didn't change the draw much (very slightly more draw, if anything, but I'm not even sure if it's enough to mention). Additionally, the glycerine hasn't seemed to have any negative effects related to drawing too much moisture in the bathroom. I'll have to say that I really like the fact that it took slightly dry leather and made it supple without making it oily, or substantially changing its draw.

I think my recommendation would be that if you are attempting to lubricate or condition a strop, any of the here-to-fore standard treatments (neatsfoot oil, strop conditioner, Lexol, hand-rubbing, mink oil, human skin oils, etc.) will work fine. I also think I that using glycerine seems just as effective as the mink oil, hand-rubbing and human skin oil (these are the applications I have used). I will continue using glycerine for a while as a simple conditioner to see how I like the results long-term.

HOWEVER, I think I would definitely recommend for consideration the glycerine for more of a strop "restoration" or "recovery" treatment for those strops that have been neglected and/or have become excessively dry or have lost their flexibility ... OR if, like I have, given a strop a good cleaning, and probably in doing so removed the natural moisture and oils from the strop. I have seen old, dried leather "restored" by using oils, and the result is an oily leather that also seems to have become weaker. When I use the glycerine, it seems to give the leather back a very natural suppleness, without oilyness, and the strength of the leather is not compromised, but actually seems increased.

Thanks to all for your input. If I find any other pertinent results as time goes by, I'll post.

Just ran across this quote from JimR's Kanayama site and thought I'd post it since it seems to agree with some of the things I've heard from the leather restorers I've spoken with ...

"Naomi-san does not recommend any oil, as over time the oil will start to oxidize and break down, damaging the conditioning of the strop."

Naomi-san does recommend a damp cloth treatment for restoring dried and hardened strops.

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Originally Posted by Mvcrash

Old tile guys use Corn Huskers Oil which is mostly glycerin, Works great on hands and elbows, don't know about leather.

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In a sence WE are leather,if you doubt it look at some of the old ladies at the beach LOL
and men for that matter (dont want to offend)
Griz

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Originally Posted by BladeRunner001

+1...This is the way I do it and it has worked so far :). Keeps the leather supple.

You don't know what you will do to your strop's property (draw, and other physical characteristics) when you apply glycerin on it. On living tissue, that's one thing...dead tissue: whole other story.

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Ive read about the rubbing your hands on the strop and have one thing that bothers me ,I think the massaging of the leather softens it up ,BUT, how much oil do you really have on your hands?? Really,most of us wash and that depletes the oils in your hands,so it would take years to get enough oil on your strop,maybe if you have a teenager with an acne problem and use his forehead you might condition your strop

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Originally Posted by Grizzley1

Ive read about the rubbing your hands on the strop and have one thing that bothers me ,I think the massaging of the leather softens it up ,BUT, how much oil do you really have on your hands?? Really,most of us wash and that depletes the oils in your hands,so it would take years to get enough oil on your strop,maybe if you have a teenager with an acne problem and use his forehead you might condition your strop

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You don't need all that much. Even when you wash your hand, you get enough oil production within the first few minutes to have enough. Although it doesn't seem so, but a very little goes a very long way. You don't need to do this everyday...once every 3 months will do

Just wondering if there is any update to this? I've got an old Valet Autostrop razor complete with an old dried out strop that i would like to recondition.

I used neetsfoot oil on my strops with no problem,better then the glyersryn

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.

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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.

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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.