Strop conditioners

Hi Guys,
Yes I have searched through the wiki and found the names of several brands to use, but they are all expensive here in the UK, I cant pick up a bottle of Neatsfoot oil for under £5, Bickmore and Mink Oil has to be imported from the US for an extortionate amount, saddle soap I read was gunky and not so good on strops.


My Grandfather, bless his soul, was a Gamekeeper and so I have several tins of dubbin in the gun room: my question is' Can I use this on my strops? Ive used it on boots, gun straps and two old leather travel kits and it seems to be soaked up well and has a lasting effect.

I have an old vintage strop, the leather is in good condition but needs a bit of life put back into it, hence the question.

If Dubbin cant be used, what other cheap alternatives are there?


As always many thanks.

Byronicus

You need look no further than the palm of your hand.

A few good rubs in your palm will supply all the conditioning you need. If at some point it looks like its drying some neatsfoot is good to use I've never heard of the stuff you mentioned.

No don't use the dubbin. It has a waterproofing affect which will really gum up the strop mink oil will do the same thing in my experience.

The hand rubbing is a good idea. I have used gun oil ( hoppes #9) with good results and what I use most is kiwi leather conditioner. Don't know if kiwi products are in the uk but you should be able to find a similar product in the shoe care isle of a store. Just make sure it doesn't waterproof.

I've used Dubbin on some of my strops. There have been no ill-effects yet.

James.

Hand rubbing is the very best suggestion, next to that I have found a few drops of ballistol a perfect solution to soften dried leather. Go easy with the ballistol, Good luck!

I've never used anything other than palm rubbing, but then I've also never had to deal with a vintage strop If you do end up using neartsfoot oil, use it sparingly as it will increase your draw. I've never heard of Dubbin.

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Originally Posted by Sherborne

I have an old vintage strop, the leather is in good condition but needs a bit of life put back into it, hence the question.

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I've never put Dubbin on a strop but it certainly made my kodiak boots nice & soft :)
If the stropping surface is ok leave it alone. If the strop needs conditioning apply to the flesh side & see if that is enough.
The reason most recommend palm rubbing is that it takes very little oil to affect the stropping surface. A rice grain sized amount of Dubbin rubbed well into your hands & then rubbed well into the work side would be all I risk at first.

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

I've used Dubbin on some of my strops. There have been no ill-effects yet.

James.

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Me either.

I used Dubbin on my first strop - it increased the draw a bit, but seemed to do the job just fine. I couldn't tell you what it would do in the long-run as I cut that one in half... : (.

I have used it very lightly on the parts I have sanded after slicing on another strop I own - seems to be ok, but I generally just "palm treat" my strops now. The Dubbin even when used lightly will affect draw I find.

I love Dubbin, but I never thought about the water proofing aspect. What I was wondering is if I could treat my strops back-sides with it to keep the leather nice and subtle?

For those who have never seen the stuff:

Attachment 101408Attachment 101409Attachment 101410

Mine doesn't say what's in it..

I'm not sure about treating the backs - perhaps. The thing is, the waterproofing component in Dubbin is beeswax. I agree with Oz - never apply a lot. When I have put Dubbin on a strop in the past, it is a tiny amount rubbed into my palms so it is warm, and then a palm rub on the strop.

To be honest though, I have not "treated" a strop for a long time now (beyond a palm rub). I generally reserve treating a strop for when I have cut it or sanded it or whatever.

James.

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

I'm not sure about treating the backs - perhaps. The thing is, the waterproofing component in Dubbin is beeswax. I agree with Oz - never apply a lot. When I have put Dubbin on a strop in the past, it is a tiny amount rubbed into my palms so it is warm, and then a palm rub on the strop.

To be honest though, I have not "treated" a strop for a long time now (beyond a palm rub). I generally reserve treating a strop for when I have cut it or sanded it or whatever.

James.

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LOl - seems like we are on the same page James. I can't get the idea of treating the back out of my head now that i dug it out for the shot lol!!

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Originally Posted by earcutter

What I was wondering is if I could treat my strops back-sides with it to keep the leather nice and subtle?

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The supplier that sold me my first strop said that this was the way to treat a strop when conditioning was needed. He warned against putting anything on the work surface.

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

The supplier that sold me my first strop said that this was the way to treat a strop when conditioning was needed. He warned against putting anything on the work surface.

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Thanks bro! Would you use the dubbin?

I can't say from experience but check the ingredients & assess the risks. I have used lard in the past but maybe that's why my strop only lasted 25 years :)

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

I can't say from experience but check the ingredients & assess the risks. I have used lard in the past but maybe that's why my strop only lasted 25 years :)

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Bahahhaha - thanks again!!

Hey do you know much about Roo strops? I got one here the other day and thought I might condition the back of that one. Any ideas on that? Thanks again onimaru55.

Well I will soon have two vintage strops landing up at my place, so I am oing to treat the worst out of the two with Dubbin and see what happens, I remember my Grandfather teaching me to use a hair dryer when applying the stuff to his leather boots, I doubt I will attempt this with the strop but yet another interesting idea of using an appliance to help apply the dubbin.

I will use a small amount on an old rag and see what happens, you live and learn!

Thanks Guys for your ideas and I will let you all know how I get on.

Byron

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Originally Posted by earcutter

Hey do you know much about Roo strops? I got one here the other day and thought I might condition the back of that one. Any ideas on that? Thanks again onimaru55.

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I know I wrecked one by putting too much neatsfoot on it so don't make my mistake. I use it for knives now but the draw is like stropping thru wet concrete.
Honestly, can't see any reason why you would want to condition a roo strop unless it was stored near an air conditioner or in the desert for the last few years. :)

Yes, I agree. There is no need to condition a roo strop unless it is in need of restoration. And given roo strops are mostly a new phenomenon, you will not find many old ones in need of reconditioning I wouldn't think.

I'll tell you one thing that my roo strops enjoy though - R.M Williams Leather Conditioner. Used sparingly, it just soaks in and leaves everything nice and supple. I've used it once or twice on a couple when I was experimenting with treating the surface (sanding it etc). Not sure if you can get it outside Australia, though if you can get RM Williams boots, I guess you can get the conditioner too. Definitely no wax in its ingredients list.

James.

I use Oakwood leather conditioner. It's got emu oil in it as well as beeswax. I don't know how they get the oil out of emus but maybe I'd rather not know. :)

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

I don't know how they get the oil out of emus but maybe I'd rather not know. :)

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Do they place buckets near fire hydrants down there?

What kind of draw does wet concrete have?

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Originally Posted by AFDavis11

What kind of draw does wet concrete have?

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Wet concrete has minimal draw, but it is more abrasive than CrOx.

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Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

Do they place buckets near fire hydrants down there?

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What fire hydrants ?

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

What fire hydrants ?

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.....:rofl2:.....

Less is more when it comes to conditioning your strop. I have used all the usual culprits and they almost always put too much moisture in the leather causing much drag and less sharpening effect. You actually want a relatively dry but smooth surface for optimal stropping.

Daily rubbing with the palm and ball of the thumb will provide all the natural conditioning a new strop should ever need.

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Originally Posted by AFDavis11

What kind of draw does wet concrete have?

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I use those colored crayon Chalks on the wet concrete. Really works well for me..........

Yo

I have a bottle of FROMM #364 strop dressing that I ordered online somewhere a long time ago. It's the only thing I've ever used so I can't compare it to anything, but after I use it, my strops are supple & no longer dry. (It resembles lotion, except it has a bad scent to it). As previously posted here, between applications of the dressing I rub the strop with the palm of my hand before I use it.

This is a very timely thread for me as I just optained a mostly new Illinois #106 Str8 razor strop and it is very very stiff, I mean it resembles thick cardboard more than leather!
I will try the From Dressing as I have NO idea were to get a hold of 'Dubins''

Good shaving Chaps

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Originally Posted by AFDavis11

What kind of draw does wet concrete have?

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Something like molasses in the winter time.

I'm just starting out. The leather on my new paddle strop felt like it might as well have been Formica. Hard and super-slick. Stropping felt a waste of time on this side (the other side is a sort of suede and did give some feedback). Didn't seem to me like this hard side had any chance of doing anything to the edge.

As far as hand-rubbing, my hands tend to be fairly dry so I don't know how many years it might take to incorporate a useful amount of skin oils. :hmmm: :p

So I decided on a light application of Lexol. It soaked in immediately. After a few minutes rest and some buffing, I did start to feel what I imagine you all mean by "draw" -- a slight bit of resistance that increases when the edge makes contact across the strop; like the leather is licking the blade as it passes over. It's not a huge amount, but it feels more "right" now than the seemingly pointless sliding it was doing before when the leather was so hard it seemed like it was only touching the edge at one or two spots instead of uniformly. I felt like I was constantly tempted to press too hard with the blade to overcome this lack of contact.

So I hope I didn't mess it up. Doesn't feel that way. Maybe now that there's some conditioner in the leather, the hand-rubbing will have something to work with?

A curious thought. I've only used my palm as well as many members. Many people do it and I haven't heard of any problems. Do y'all think there is any chance at all of metal particles getting into the skin?
Like I said, just a curious thought.

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Originally Posted by GG1

A curious thought. I've only used my palm as well as many members. Many people do it and I haven't heard of any problems. Do y'all think there is any chance at all of metal particles getting into the skin?
Like I said, just a curious thought.

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Unless a strop is pasted or sprayed with an abrasive , it's not removing metal from the blade . Stropping on plain leather realigns the microscopic "teeth" on the edge , and doesn't remove metal .
Therefore , IMHO there is no chance of getting metal particles in your hand , from rubbing your strop .

Thanks Dave for clearing that up.