Thread: Using Vitamin E Oil For Strop Conditioning

Just wondering if anyone else has tried using vitamin E oil for conditioning a strop? My wife has a bottle of it for her skin. So, I tried it yesterday after I had to repair a little nick in my stop. I sanded the nick out and notice how dry the part of my strop was after I sanded it. I applied it sparingly with a cotton ball and at first I notice how dark it made my strop. I thought I might have ruined it but, today my strop is close to it's original color. It made the leather soft and pliable. I ran my hand across it and there was no residue and it felt smooth. So earlier today, I decided to lightly sand the whole strop today and apply the oil to the whole strop. I just stropped one of my razors on it and no problems at all. Like I said earlier I used it sparingly and waited at least 8 hours before using the strop! Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated..

If it did all of that for dead leather just think how good it is for you.

Never heard of it but that is how discoveries are made. The only thing I would be careful about is applying too much or too often. I'm not sure if it is anything like neatsfoot oil but that stuff will increase the draw on a strop. Not a bad thing if that is what you want but not so great if you don't. Vitamin A oil may not share that characteristic, don't know.

Over the past few years it has been not recommended because it will become rancid and hard. This applies to all the vegetable oils. What is recommended is pure Neatsfoot oil applied sparingly.
To get the vegetable oil out of your strop try "blotting" it out by ironing it, on a low heat, wrapped in a paper grocery bag. As the leather warms up the oil will become thin and be absorbed by the paper.
Do not cook the leather with high heat, it will be ruined.
Just an idea & hope it helps

That's what I was going to say. Depends on the carrier oil. The E makes up a tiny part of the oil. The question is what kind of oil is used. Anything vegetable based can turn.

I prefer Neat's Foot oil also but the question is about the use of Vitamin E. I have been seriously burned two times at work. The least serious incident involved a chemical burn on my arm. I was given prescription Vitamin E capsules and told to punch a hole in the capsule and apply the oil to my burned skin. It is very good for treating human skin which is effectively leather.

As stated above, we need to know the nature of the base oil which may well be something like mineral oil or the like. After all is said, I would go with the Neat's Foot oil to be sure.

Jerry
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On new strops, I've never had to use any type of oil. I rub them with the palm of my hand, that's always been enough. I've cleaned up and restored a few vintage ones, and I used Neetsfoot oil. As mentioned, use it sparingly. It's easy to go to far with it.

Not intending to hijack the thread but I started every week wiping down my strop with non scented disposable children's wipes. I found that it picks up dust, dirt even metal contaminates without them becoming embedded into leather allowing the blade strop nicely against it.

I checked the bottle and the ingredients are: Soy oil, Vitamin E, and Coconut oil. As I stated before, I used it sparingly, just a little bit on a cotton ball.

I agree with being very sparing with any treatment on the strop. I would be concerned that the oils put on it will turn rancid over time. I only rub two coats of shaving soap foam into mine and then nothing else. With oil, the surface will become soft adding drag to the blade. I'd rather have mine slick by not adding anything.