Can I use neats foot oil?

[squib load]

Hi,I know neats ft oil is good for putting on new bags.All I have is neats ft oil compound.Can I use That?Thanks,Squib

 

[Capt. Jas.]

I would not use it as it has added features in it's compound that are bad for the leather and eat at the stitching.

 

[mazo kid]

I would not use it as it has added features in it's compound that are bad for the leather and eat at the stitching.

Ditto! Not a good idea. :nono:

 

[tnguy]

look for pure oil, the compound is bad. i made 2 pouches about 10 years ago, same hide same threads. i gave them to my friend and his dad. the dad used the compound and his bag has been restitched where the threads rotted, also i had to trim the holes from the first sewing because they were breaking apart. this was about when the bag was 3 maybe 4 years old, the leather is bad now in places and could stand being re trimmed and sewn yet again to move the holes to some better material. his sons pouch, treated with deer tallow and beeswax mix is still going strong, no repairs.

 

[squib load]

Ok guys,I will throw it away.Squib

 

[Bountyhunter]

Lets clarify a bit here. When you look for neatsfoot oil you can get it 2 ways. First is Pure neatsfoot oil, that rendered from the leg bones of cattle, and second is neats foot oil compound. The Compound has mineral oil and often sulfur in it. Pure neatsfoot oil is used on saddles and other good leathers as a preservative. The Mineral Oil in the Compound rots leather. If you have pure neats foot oil, then it is good to use. If you have compound, then donate it to the can in the alley.

 

[LRB]

In my experience, mineral oil has never rotted leather. hOWEVER, IT WILL DRY OUT. It's the sulfer in neatsfoot compound that rots the leather. However, odd as it may seem, about 25 years ago I needed a holster for a sixgun I had just gotten. I found one with a perfect fit that someone left in my shop. It was old and well used, but stiff and dry. The only oil I had on hand was 30 weight non-detergent motor oil, so I soaked it with that. That holster is as good as it ever was to this day. I also rubbed in some vasilene after the motor oil. Pure neatsfoot attracts bugs. Neatsfoot compound has sulfer which repels bugs, but chemically burns the leather fibers. Petroleum oil repels bugs, and apparently does no harm to the leather, unless it has additives in it. I would suggest maybe, just vasilene, rubbed in well, for long term protection. Think about this. You can eat vaselene, and expect no harm from it, maybe a case of the trots, because you would be lubed, so to speak, but it is a pure petroleum based grease that does not attact bugs, or bacteria, that may attack the leather. Pure neatsfoot is animal protein based, and bugs love it!

 

[T.C.Albert]

It is thought that sulfur either absorbed from exposure to a very smokey environment or in a residual form resulting from an actual tanning processes is what causes "red rot" in leather. As the sulfur in the leather absorbs a bit of moisture, even just through exposure to high humidity, it makes a weak sulfuric acid actually in the leathers fibers, begins to "eat" the leather, turns it that characteristic reddish color, and destroys the item totally in time with no real known "cure". On historic artifacts, conservators can balance ph etc to try and stabalize the leather, but I think the damage the rot caused is irreversable.

If theres sulfur in a leather dressing of any sort, the same results would be pretty predictable I would guess...
T.Albert

 

[longrifle78]

Hey Wick , I had a similar thing happen, I had an old cartridge belt that was old and so dried out i was going to throw it away, i tossed it in a bucket of used motor oil fer the heck of it and left it in there over night and 10 years later its still as soft and supple as a new one.

 

[windwalker_au]

Hi,I know neats ft oil is good for putting on new bags.All I have is neats ft oil compound.Can I use That?Thanks,Squib

use pure mink oil great stuff.
bernie :thumbsup:

 

[LRB]

Mink oil is also protien based, and would attract bugs. It depends on your locale. Where I live, the only leather items that are not attacked, are those treated with petroleum based oils.

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Use pure neatsfoot oil only, no mink oil and certainly no motor oil, petroleum distillates will eventually rot leather. Sorry Wick, that is just my experience and while I realize that your experience is different, check out a pair of shoes or boots worn by a mechanic that spills or drips motor oil on them, they are soon gone. I made a full set of leathers for a fellow WW1 reenactor a few years ago and he was told by another compatriot "to oil them" so he used 10W30. :shocked2: He said that he "read somewhere that the Germans used it". *sigh* By the next spring he needed a new set.... As they say, your mileage may vary but it shouldn't.

 

[LRB]

It may depend on the type of tanning done, and a mechanics shoes would be subject to many more types of oil, lubes, and chemicals than simple non-detergent motor oil, or vaselene. Overall, I am not sure that there is a perfect oil for leather. Each comes with it's own set of problems, just some less than others. I can say, here in FL, neatsfoot is a bug magnet.

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

True, the items I make are always vegetable (bark) tanned and chrome tanned, etc. may react differently. As you know, most leathers used by craftsmen, including yourself, are vegetable tanned. And neatsfoot oil is used in the currying process at the tannery. The stiffness of the holster you described was due to age hardening and could have been cured by saddle soap and oiling with neatsfoot oil while still slightly damp from the cleaning with water and saddle soap. That being said, what you did seems to have worked and can be of no further concern to me or anyone else, I have too much respect for your abilities as an artist and craftsman so please understand that I mean my statements as no insult to you or your abilities, they are for information only.
:hatsoff:
http://www.geocities.com/gew8805/New_Gew8805_11-08-00.html?973797791220

 

[pichou]

First, oils and fats are lipids, not proteins. But ask any college student or mouse or cockroach... lipids are one of the 4 food groups. :rotf:

Sulphur and fatty acids... OK we got those free H's that make acids, we got sulphur, we got air and atmospheric moisture... guess what you get from that? H2SO4. Sulphuric acid. Now, any questions about why stitching and leather are falling apart?

Save the NF Compound for garden tools and oiling your horn. Buy pure for your leather goods.

 

[omarick1948]

First, oils and fats are lipids, not proteins. But ask any college student or mouse or cockroach... lipids are one of the 4 food groups. :rotf:

Sulphur and fatty acids... OK we got those free H's that make acids, we got sulphur, we got air and atmospheric moisture... guess what you get from that? H2SO4. Sulphuric acid. Now, any questions about why stitching and leather are falling apart?

Save the NF Compound for garden tools and oiling your horn. Buy pure for your leather goods.

Don't know anything about lipids, proteins or even Camel spit, but I don't think that I would use NF compound on horn...especialy powder horns.

I think the idea is to "keep your powder dry"!...Over time that NF Compound will work it's way to the powder! :nono:

 

[squib load]

Thanks again,I just ordered some pure neats from zacks leather.Squib

 

[pichou]

Camel spit has more proteins than lipids. :rotf:

Neatsfoot oil occurs naturally where? Hoofs and horns. :blah:

No, I'm not a organic chemist, but I did stay at Holiday Inn Express last night.

:v

 

[omarick1948]

Camel spit has more proteins than lipids. :rotf:

Neatsfoot oil occurs naturally where? Hoofs and horns. :blah:

No, I'm not a organic chemist, but I did stay at Holiday Inn Express last night.

:v

Seeeee! :cursing: Just ask any cow and they will tell you that their powder keeps getting wet!... :haha:

 

[pichou]

:rotf:

Never thought of that. I didn't know they used guns. :shocked2: