Thread: Caring for a Strop

Good Evening Gents,

With so many fine, intelligible, gentlemen at the disposal of a neophyte I could not help but ask this question. What is the proper way to care for an maintain a strop—giving it the same delicate care and attention that is emphasized on the blade itself. Is hand rubbing sufficient? Is there a conditioning paste I should buy? If so, how should it be used?

While I anticipate that I will purchase additional strops in the future it would be meaningful to have my first set of tools last me a lifetime.

Many thanks in advance.

All you need to keep your stop in working condition is a good palm rubbing. If the strop happens to dry out too much, neatsfoot oil(used sparingly) can bring the suppleness back.

Agreed to that. Buy a good quality strop also. Don't go old or cheap. When learning to shave we advise to get a good quality razor honed to a true "shave ready". I would advise the same for a good strop. Reputible stores like classic or SRD or others can sell a good quality strop at a good price.

I'm with these two fine, intelligible gentlemen.

1) A good quality strop
2) Daily hand rubbing (you don't need to go crazy on the pressure...just transfer the oils from your skin to the leather).
3) IMO, avoid topical treatments such as Fromm dressing, oils, etc. Once it goes in, it doesn't come out.

I can just echo what's already been said, with a quality strop all you need is a good palm rubbing before each use.

I would agree that for every day use and break-in, a good hand rubbing until the palm of your hand feels warm daily is all that is needed. If your strop, starts to get stiff, then working in a minimal amount of neats foot oil either sparing on the front or back of the leather will work. I find that most times people put too much of the paste products on a strop and it simply cakes it up making it sticky and not very usable. If you do use the pastes or dressings, less is better.

Have fun.

I have several strops. All I've ever done is rub them with the palm of my hand. The oils in your skin act as a natural conditioner. They all look and feel great! That's all new strops really need.
I'd avoid any over the counter treatments, as this could change the draw of your strop, especially loading it up with soap. As previously mentioned, once done, they cannot be undone.

The only thing I'll add is I'm in a single digit humidity area which sucks the moisture out of everything and at this point in life there ain't much oil left in my hands so a couple times a year I use some neatsfoot oil on all my strops.

Daily hand rubbing is all that you need to do in order to maintain a new strop. If you are trying to revive a dryed out older strop, I find that a couple of drops of balistol first rubbed on my hand and then transferred to that strop works miracles for me. Neatsfoot oil is a little too heavy for me and will clog the leather.

I shower every night and when I rise in the morning I will run the strop over my head (I keep my head shaved) or my forhead and it will put a little more oil on the leather. Then I rub by hand.
WARNING!! Do not use this method if you have night sweats or have a problem with a lot of salty in your sweat. You might try this on an old strop or scrap peice of leather and make sure you are leaving no salt.
This has worked for me for about two years and have seen no ill effects at all.
Stingray