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Hello! Just switched over to wet shaving.

Troutbum

New Member
A couple of weeks ago I switched over to wet shaving and have been using my belt for a strop. Today I got my leather horse butt strop but don't have neats foot oil. I do have a leather conditioner that I use once a month on my cowboy boots. Can I use a leather conditioner instead of neats foot? The conditioner is sort of like mink oil.
 
I'm not really into treating leather with oils, personally, because I think those who produce the strops typically know more about it than I do :p

What I'd do is just rub it with your palm until it starts to feel warm to the touch before you strop each time. The oils from your hand will break it in nicely, and I've never messed one up using that method

Welcome to coticule.be :)
 
Hello and welcome from me too

I agree with Paul, thats exactly what I do everyday, and have never found the need to add anything else to the leather.

Best regards
Ralfson (Dr)
 
Not to sound obscure,but the natural grease from you`re forehead and behind the ears are excellent for strop conditioning...Sounds pretty awfull,I know,but it works.

Torbs
 
Welcome to the forum!

It's hard to say what you need (or don't need) on your strop. Is there some reason you want to use oil? I mean, is the strop too slick (too little draw)? If you like the draw, don't put anything on it.

Is it a new strop or vintage? What is it you are using on your boots?

regards,
Torolf
 
Thanks for all of your replies. I oiled it up a little since it is a brand spanking new stop and leather seems to dry up in our house. I only oiled it up a little with the boot conditioner because I do like the pull that the stop has naturally. This wet shaving is very exciting for me as it is the only time I get to relaxe and take a little time for myself. With two jobs and a wife and kid it is always rush rush rush, so at least I get a little time in with the straight. Sure beats rushing out with a Norelco.
 
As paul said for me.
I think if you were to condition it you should be very sparing with oil, no more than yearly.
Really try to rub as much off as possible with clean soft cloth just to get a residue and don't use after that for few days.

Joe:thumbup:
 
One thing to keep in mind is that oil will work more slowly than some people (yours truly included, of course) realise. So I had this brand spanking new SRD Premium I, and I thought, 'it could use some more draw'. Applied a bit of neatsfoot oil - no change; added a few drops more - hardly any change; drowned the bloody thing in neatsfoot oil - nice. Two hours later, the strop was ready for the garbage can. I tried a variety of things to get rid of the excess oil, but none really worked. I have given it to a number of beginners for practising since.

That said, I recently received an SRD Natural. That one is their new entry level product. Bit on the aesthetically unusual side, and very little draw out of the box. Talked to Lynn about the proper breaking in procedure, and he said what Paul said. So I rubbed my palms across it until they became warm. The whole process took about a week, and it now has perfect - for me, mind you - draw, just as planned. It also works surprisingly well for a strop so competitively priced.

So it really is down to your initial choice of leather. I have three strops by Torolf, and they all came ready to use, and developed little additional draw. But the leather is in a different league entirely, much thinner, more supple, and softer. I really could not give a recommendation, by the way. And realistically, unless the leather is badly tanned, or the craftsmanship leaves something to be desired, a strop is a strop. They work, end of story.

Regards,
Robin
 
torbenbp said:
Not to sound obscure,but the natural grease from you`re forehead and behind the ears are excellent for strop conditioning...Sounds pretty awfull,I know,but it works.

Torbs

I wont ask how you know that lol
 
Troutbum said:
A couple of weeks ago I switched over to wet shaving and have been using my belt for a strop. Today I got my leather horse butt strop but don't have neats foot oil. I do have a leather conditioner that I use once a month on my cowboy boots. Can I use a leather conditioner instead of neats foot? The conditioner is sort of like mink oil.



~~~I have 3 strops and all have been treated with something besides my hand. The others are right though, when I bought a new strop from Tony Miller and asked his advice about treating it, he replied to just use the oil from the palm of my hand yet this particular strop I got from him became noticeably dry ...we use air conditioning 8 months out of 12 and some of the other months our wood stoves dry the house out, so I felt it necessary to treat my strops. I've used neatsfoot oil, Lexol leather conditioner but my favorite is a proprietary leather bicycle saddle conditioner...Proofide by Brooks. When I apply Proofide I use it sparingly yet the entire surface gets covered...I put it on thinly let it dry over night then the next day I use the palm of my hand and rub the strop well then strop my razor. I've seen absolutely no negative effects using Proofide. That's the good, now here's the bad-

My first strop and I still have it uses English Bridle leather and it had yummy draw when I first got it but I messed it up using shaving lather to clean it. One application was okay but the second time I used lather, it sucked the life out of that leather and it's still fast to this day. I don't feel too bad about this though. As it was my first strop I nicked it up pretty good. I removed ther flaps the nicks caused and sanded the ridges too appropriately, and I have treated the leather using a combination of conditioners and oils so it does draw now, but not nearly as good as it did when it was new. Live and learn so be careful if you have nice draw on your strop now...you don't want to muck it up

Oh!, and glad you have found solice wet shaving...it's truly man time isn't it?=:)


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
 
I have never oiled a strop I've gotten from a reputable Vendor. All I do is everytime I use the strop I rub it with the palm of my hand until it gets warm. The natural oils are you hand are absorbed into the leather to threat the strop.
 
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