I was recently asked by another TSC member when you should apply oil to your strop. The answer to me is somewhat subjective as are most things in wet shaving. To me, all your strop really needs is the natural oils from your hands, which is very little in the way of oil. I will every few weeks take my strop off its hook and lay it flat on the table and firmly rub my palm on the strop in a circular motion all the way up and down the strop several times. Almost every shave, I will rub my forearm over the strop before I begin stropping. This has always done the trick for me and none of my strops are dry at all. Some others may chime in offering to use a couple drops of neatsfoot to give it a solid refresh, that is if it had not been used in some time. Though, that's just it! If the strop is used often and handled often it may not need any oil at all, but if its sitting in a hot room with copious sunlight and has not been used in quite some time, yes it will likely dry out a little bit. Bringing it back to life may require a couple drops of neatsfoot oil applied to your palm and then rubbed in the same way mentioned above.
I will caution you that if you add too much oil, it will be extremely difficult to impossible to remove it. This will also, likely result in a discoloring of the leather from its original look. I always suggest putting the oil directly on your hand and rubbing it in a drop or two at a time. If you apply the oil directly to the strop you may end up with an uneven application, resulting in darker spots. ALSO, if you add too much oil it could greatly increase the amount of draw your strop has, slowing down your laps. Some like this added draw, where as others like a fast strop, but I thought I'd mention that this is a possible result as well.
I would reserve oil applications to as necessary and not as a regular routine, because that oil shouldn't be going anywhere for a really long time.
NOW, if you have a vintage strop, that's a different story and an entirely different thread that needs started.
Good luck,
Matt
I will caution you that if you add too much oil, it will be extremely difficult to impossible to remove it. This will also, likely result in a discoloring of the leather from its original look. I always suggest putting the oil directly on your hand and rubbing it in a drop or two at a time. If you apply the oil directly to the strop you may end up with an uneven application, resulting in darker spots. ALSO, if you add too much oil it could greatly increase the amount of draw your strop has, slowing down your laps. Some like this added draw, where as others like a fast strop, but I thought I'd mention that this is a possible result as well.
I would reserve oil applications to as necessary and not as a regular routine, because that oil shouldn't be going anywhere for a really long time.
NOW, if you have a vintage strop, that's a different story and an entirely different thread that needs started.
Good luck,
Matt
