You know, there are different schools of thought out there when it comes to breaking in a brand new whip, but the most widely accepted one is really still just to use it. You don’t need to break it in by any artificial means. Unless that whip has been sitting around a shop for months and months, you shouldn’t have too use leather dressing on a new whip. One its got more then enough oils still in it from it being made and two you don’t want to over condition it as that can be just as bad as letting it dry out too much. I remember reading through an old book on whip cracking that suggested soaking a new stiff whip in motor oil for 5 to 10 minutes to help loosen it up
again not a good idea
!
Like McFly mentions, Anthony Delongis likes to work the whips in his hand flexing them back and forth a bit to help to loosen them up. I prefer a more natural break in so usually don’t do this. But if your going to do that, whip maker Mike Murphy suggests the best way to do it is to slowly bend them back and forth while rotating it in your grip, flexing it evenly down the entire length of the thong.
One of the main problems though with trying to artificially break in a whip is most people don’t know when to stop, or how much is too much. So they over do it and run the risk of damaging the belly and stretching the plaiting, putting too much tension on the strand to the point they start to pulling it apart and gap, which can happen when you start cranking a whip back and forth flexing it more sharply then the whip was designed to bend.
Another though on this, is that whips; especially plaited leather whips are very dynamic items, which are designed to transfer energy though its curvature and taper. A new whip will adjust to the way you use them, by breaking it in gradually by using it, you are helping to develop a “memory” of sorts in the leather. This way the whip develops itself to your style and becomes your whip, not just a loose noodle. I know sometimes people will comment when they pick up someone else’s well broken in whip and try to use it, that it doesn’t handle as well for them, as it does the owner, I don't recall ever having that problem
but this is thought to be the reason why...
Dan
Just for an FYI, usually when you feel a kink in a well-made whip it’s a result of a strand being dropped into the belly of the whip, as part of its tapered design. Some whip makers have a less noticeable drop, others are a little more pronounced but there really isn’t any way around it.
... and if there are any cell biologists out there that can tell me what happens to the fibers under the different methods 
that would be great too.
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