Lets Talk Leather

[sse]

Now that we have a pile of leather bags and other leather articles of various kinds, what is the proper means of preserving, water proofing and maintaining the things? What restores good appearance after a hard run of use?

Neatsfoot, Sno-Seal, balms, beeswax, duct tape?

Regards, sse

 

:imo: My old favorite is beeswax and bear grease, no added scents, preservatives, surfacants, etc. just plain old beeswax & bear grease.....If it ain't broke......Don't MESS with it !!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I know of no way to 'water-PROOF' leather...except hot vulcanized rubber :crackup: but beeswax n beargrease will make it WATER-RESISTANT... :thumbsup:

 

[deforge1]

I gotta go 100% with BadWind on this, and if you can't get bear grease, use good rendered and cleand deer tallow in it's place.

 

[tg]

Huberds shoe grease is a good product, it is a simple mix off bees wax and pine tar, much like brewers pitch, the formula goes way back. it should be available still, a friend of mine made it and sold out the buisness to another party but I think they were going to continue the product as is.

 

[Charles/NM]

I use Fiebing's Aussie Leather Conditioner. Contains beeswax. They claim it conditions and waterproofs leather.

 

[Joe Yanta]

In my experience I have found that different leather requires different methods of cleaning and care.

The first basic leather product would be raw hide and sinew. These leathers are stiff and should stay that way. You need to keep moisture away from them. About the only way you can do that is with a wax. Bees wax is the best natural wax. Renaissance wax is the best man made product if you can find and afford it. It is made in London and use by museums to preserve everything from firearms and saddles to wood and jewelery.

Buckskin is softened rawhide. If your careful with water and almost no soap it will clean it up some. You can wash out the brain or other softeners in it. I will react like an auto chamois. Wonderfully soft and pliable until you wash it a couple of times. If I need to soften up buckskin and dont have the brains to do it, I use "Horsemans One Step" to soften it up again.

Chrome and Vegetable leathers like saddles, belts, sheaths and holsters I like to keep dry. Maybe just a little bit of neetfoot oil and bees wax. I made up a blend 20 years ago of neetsfoot oil and bees in a coffe can and have about 20 year supply left. You dont want to use to much oil because the you overly soften the leather and it then becomes Latigo leather. If you need to clean this leather use either saddle soap or glycerine on a damp cloth. Dont soak the leather, again you can wash out too much of the softeners.

IMHO I think the real beauty of leather comes out after it has character being burnished through time. I would think long and hard before I would try to remove what time has given it.

:m2c: :results:

Joe Yanta

 

[Bushwhacker]

Just plain ol saddle soap works fine. Unless you plan on using it in scuba diving :m2c:
BUSHWHACKER

 

[musketman]

I had good results with neatsfoot and mink oils...

 

[sse]

BW - Do you combine the bear grease and beeswax into a mixture?

Many good comments, thanks a bunch.

Regards,sse

 

[Jack Walker]

I'm also with BW on this. I use a mix of beeswax and bear grease (tallow etc.) in a 40% to 60% in the above order. There is really no way to "water proof" leather, just keeps the leather supple and water resistant. :m2c:

 

That depends on what type of leather your working on. I use bar saddlesoap to clean my leathers. I hate that stuff in a can, if you want good saddle soap find your local "Tack Shop" and ask them for a bar of saddle soap, runs around $5 for a 8 inch bar. I relly like to get the leather sopping wet with the stuff. then I let it dry with the suds still on it. Once its dry, I buff it out and follow up with neatsfoot oil. However, if you're working on a motorcycle jacket, vest or chaps, I look for a tup of brooks leatherizer. Great stuff, if they still make it. I've been working with leathers over thirty plus years, motorcycle gear, horse tack, boots and moccasins.

Just:m2c:

Now that we have a pile of leather bags and other leather articles of various kinds, what is the proper means of preserving, water proofing and maintaining the things? What restores good appearance after a hard run of use?
Neatsfoot, Sno-Seal, balms, beeswax, duct tape?
Regards, sse

 

[sse]

Now I just saw some stuff called "Lexol", which bills itself to do all the stuff that neatsfoot oil does, only better (as far as conditioning the leather goes). Adheres to the leather better, therefore doesn't migrate or come off the leather. Doesn't leave any residue over time. Waterproofs better. Might be worth it to try a bit out and see what happens.

Regards, sse

 

[musketman]

if you want good saddle soap find your local "Tack Shop" and ask them for a bar of saddle soap, runs around $5 for a 8 inch bar. Great stuff, if they still make it.

Where ever there is an Amish community, you will find a tack shop that sells quality saddlesoap in bar form...

There are other places that sell it as well...

http://www.eurosaddlery.com/893.html

http://www.unitedvetequine.com/Merchant2...ry_Code=ssaddle

 

[PaulN/KS]

Lexol works pretty well as a conditioner but I don't think it does anything for water resistance.I like to put it on knife sheathes or holsters after they have been dyed.It softens the leather and gives it a nice look.

 

[waksupi]

Lexol puts essential oils back into leather. I use a mixture of beeswax and pine pitch on my boots, and there is a commercial mix of this, called Montana Pitchblende. There is another good waterproofing, called Bear Grease, that works better than mink oil or Hubbarts. There are a lot ofthe old time loggers up here that render deer tallow, and use this on thier boots, and this seems like the best waterproofing. I've never found one yet that would keep your feet dry longer than an hour, if that. Neetsfoot oil is bad for most leather, and rots stitching in fairly short order. It is meant to be used on heavy harness type leather.

 

[sse]

I think I'm going to pick up some Lexol and try it out. I kinda wonder whether it may have a deleterious affect on stitching and the like, but on leather knife handles or boots that is not as much as an issue. I really like the idea that it doesn't darken down the leather like neatsfoot oil.

Almost all old collector knives with leather sheaths are almost black in color. It would be nice to see them retain there old medium brown color instead of turning black from the conditioners used. I even hhve a nib knfe that has a very darkened handle. Might consider replacing it and trying a non-darkening substance.

I don't doubt that each of these "oil" applications, short of the heavy water proofers probably do a passable job of water resistance, which is good enough for many purposes.

Regards, and thanks for the many responses, sse

 

SSE.. I dont have a recipe for it I just melt down a pan full of beeswax in an old double boiler, pour that into 'about' the same ammount of clarified bear grease, let it set up, and if its too hard add more grease, if too soft, add more melted wax.. :thumbsup:

I get my beeswax from a couple of local bee keepers, it is NASTY stuff, but it cleans up o.k. ...I get about 2 to 4 bears worth of fat from various local hunters almost every year .. I just freeze it till I got time and the weather is nice then I put my big pot on the BBQ and fill it w/ fat, as it 'melts' I add more till I got a pot full, then you skim off all the brown junk, dirt, meat, etc. and let it cool, later I pour out about 1/2 the grease into an old enamel pot, top it up w/ water and bring it to a fast boil, let cool AGAIN, CAREFULLY pour off the grease when it just feels cool into 1/2 gallon mason jars and cap it... I split the grease w/ the guys who shot the bears .. for most purposes it is good to use at that point, but for leather dressing I clarify it one more time, just cut 50 50 with water, boil it and pour off the now even cleaner grease.. :thumbsup:

 

[musketman]

CAREFULLY pour off the grease when it just feels cool into 1/2 gallon mason jars and cap it...

If you pour it into a muffin pan you can make bear grease ingots...

 

that works for the bees wax but bears grease is a liquid ...and I plan on livin a few more years not gettin killed by little miss "Now what did you get all over the floor???" :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:

 

[musketman]

Will that bear grease turn rancid?

Don't want your leather goods to smell funky...