Leather Conditioner

[White Oak]

A question for you leather working guys.
What do you prefer for a good leather conditioner/protectant?
I want something good to use on my shooting bags.
I also have a beautiful moose hide quiver that I would like to preserve and protect.

Thanks,
Ed

 

[BrownBear]

Depends on the original finish, but for veg tan leather I use my favorite patch lube- Track of the Wolf's Mink Tallow. For oiled/waxed leather I really like Fiebing's Atom Wax.

 

[tenngun]

I do like mink oil and neatsfoot is good .should your quiver be brain tanned I like more smoke and mink oil,but tallow and lard work too.

 

[don hepler]

I'm still using the leather conditioner, from my Harley riding days. It worked fine on saddle bags and it works fine on possible bag as well.

Got it at Harley shop, has Harley Davidson name on it.

 

[Artificer]

Depends on the original finish, but for veg tan leather I use my favorite patch lube- Track of the Wolf's Mink Tallow. For oiled/waxed leather I really like Fiebing's Atom Wax.

Isn't Atom Wax a finish rather than a conditioner?

For me, I use the old tried and true Lexol for a conditioner on most leathers.

Gus

 

[BrownBear]

Isn't Atom Wax a finish rather than a conditioner?

It's a wax and "balm," whatever that means. I've used it as a conditioner on oiled/waxed leather with perfect happiness for years, and that's what I specified in this discussion. I don't use it for veg tan because I've been so happy with TOW's mink tallow.

 

[Artificer]

The reason I asked is because I have always been under the impression that Atom Wax went on the smooth side of the leather as a finish, while conditioners mainly went on the rough side of the leather to keep the fibers from breaking/separating?

Gus

 

[BrownBear]

I use it on both, and if anything it works better than the "conditioners" for preserving the rough side. Just different needs and habits developed in our wet country.

Talking to the old timers on the water here, they used to use whale oil or seal oil back in the day to soften leather, whale oil blended with paraffin for waterproofing. Of course walrus and sea lion leathers were the top choices for marine uses. Having handled a pair of recent Russian-made walrus leather boots (they still make them!), it's easy to see why they chose it. Wow, what great stuff unlike any other leather I've been around.

Back when I was a mere kid on the ranch in desert country it was all saddle soap and neat's-foot oil. My special job was to clean and treat all the saddles and strapping in the tack shed once a month, and it took most of a day. But we rarely got so much as 5" of rain in a year compared to the 90" I live with now.

 

[Artificer]

I recently used Atom Wax on a veg tanned leather sling and bayonet frog I had made around 10 years ago and had not yet used. I put it on the blackened smooth side and it made the leather less flexible, which worried me a bit that it would be more prone to cracking. So I put Lexol on the rough side and a very slight dampening over the Atom Wax on the smooth side.

Fully understand about using saddle soap to clean and Neat's Foot Oil as a conditioner on saddles, though when Lexol came out in I think the 60's, we switched to that for a conditioner. In the 50's I remember seeing my Grandpa using Neat's Foot Oil on a pair of buff/off white leather gauntlets. Those gauntlets looked like Post Civil War era military gauntlets and I have no idea where he got them, as he was in the Infantry in WWI. But those gauntlets worked great when he was using gardening tools.

Gus

 

[coloradoclyde]

Ingredients:

Carnauba Wax 8015-86-9 > 5.0 %
Triethanolamine 102-71-6 > 1.4 %
Water 7732-18-5 > 60.0 %

 

[fleener]

For something that is new that I made and there is no finish on the leather I will use equal parts of bees wax and neatsfoot oil.

Heat up the mixure on a very low stove and the leather in the oven at 170 F. I take a paint brush and put the mixture on the hot leather. I will do a few applications with the leather going back into the oven between coats. The bees wax and neatsfoot oil will soak into the leather. The leather will be a dark brown and will have a great finish that will last a lifetime.

I have used this for years with knife sheaths, slings, check piece etc.

fleener

 

[Mad Professor]

I'm not a leather worker but Limmer Boot Co sells a great boot dressing

 

[Billnpatti]

A question for you leather working guys.
What do you prefer for a good leather conditioner/protectant?
I want something good to use on my shooting bags.
I also have a beautiful moose hide quiver that I would like to preserve and protect.

Thanks,
Ed

My grandson has a Jeep that he takes out in some pretty nasty places. It has leather seats and he bought a product at Home Depot that has some sort of nano technology that makes water, mud, etc. just roll off the leather. It comes in a spray can. He uses it on his Jeep top, too. Not HC/PC but it sure is good stuff. I just wish I could remember the name. If you go to Home Depot and ask them, they will know what you are asking about. It is invisible on the surface. I bought a can and used it to treat my hunting frock and fabric leggings to make them water proof. It worked wonderfully and you could not tell it was there.

I looked it up for you. this is the stuff http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-NeverWet-11-oz-NeverWet-Outdoor-Fabric-Spray-278146/205160314

 

[BrownBear]

Never even looked close at it, but I can see lots of uses beyond leather in wet country. I still rue the day they discontinued the old style Scotch Guard.

Thanks!

 

[Larry Akers]

Pecard leather dressing.

 

[SgtErv]

Gus,

I can confirm that the Lexol did the sling and frog well! They're in good shape