Thread: Too much Neatsfoot!!!!

I only have the one strop, and it's not great but I try my hardest with it. I decided to put some neatsfoot oil on it, decanted a bit into a tub, then knocked the full tin over the strop (and the furniture, but that's another issue!). My strop is now really soaked with neatsfoot! It was on the centre section, I stried to wipe it off, but it just spread it over the rest of the strop, and plus by the time I'd cleaned up the furniture and got to the strop it was really soaked in.
Is there such a thing as too much?!

Cheers in advance,

Iain.

I always say 'a little goes a long way.' I would think soaked would be too much. If it was mine I would take something absorbent such as cat litter and cover the strop all the way around. Let that absorb some of the excess.

Oh my that doesn't sound good.
Jimmys idea sounds real good.
When people drop phones in water they say to place in uncooked rice to absorb liquid I wonder if it would work with a thicker substance like oil?

Hang it outside in the sunshine. Sun will warm it and make it soak farther into the strop so it won't be quite so greasy feeling. It will get a LOT darker looking doing this though.

Or you can wrap it in an old sheet, lay it out flat and put some weight on it. The sheet might draw some of the oil off that's close to the surface.

Indeed, Iain, I have done same. I now use the oily bugger as a finishing strop. I have been wiping it furiously on both sides with a soft towell before and after each use and it is slowly working! Getting better! Stropping seems to bring the oil to the top. Seems a little goes a long way! Anyway, no worries about the bevels rusting!

Sorry about your mishap, but there are some good recommendations above. On, how much is too much, well, here's how much I use. I shake the neats foot container and then take the lid off. I touch, not swipe, the tip of my index finger lightly to the inside of the lid and then with just that hand rub the oil onto the palm and other fingers. Wipe that onto the strop and work it in and let it hang for 24 hours before using it. On a new strop I may do this once, maybe twice the first year. After that ?, and not every new strop will need that. Lots of us use just the natural skin oil present on our hands and rub the strop daily before use. This won't help your current dilemma, but may help on the next strop. Good Luck, and hope you can salvage this one.

Best Regards,

Howard

Many thanks to you all for the advice and ideas. I have found that by stropping a blade at a steeper angle it is drawing the oil out one bit at a time. God knows what it's doing to the blade, but it's one from the refurb collection anyway.
In the mean time, I guess I'll head on over to the classified section to find me a new strop!

The Mrs is gonna hate me.....

Thanks again comrades!

you could try scrubbing it with soapy water, that would get some of the near-surface oil out & allow the more deeply penetrated oil to leech back up to the surface

I put too much on once. All you need to do is crub it with shaving cream then let it hang where the air is openly circulated.

It'll take time but slowly it will start to dry on its own.

Yea, it will dry up eventually on it's own. It will take a fair amount of time though. The only thing I have used to draw oil out is oven cleaner on old gun stocks. It works for that but I would NOT try it on leather. Might be an interesting experiment to soak an old piece of leather and see what oven cleaner will do.

Bob