What to use on buckskins to re-soften them?

[JiminTexas]

Well I finally got the stains on the front of my buckskins to where they aren't very noticable, but mow the leather (yes, it's real buckskin) is stiffer than it was before. I suspect that taking the stains out and recoloring the leather has washed out the oils in them, so what can I safely use to make them soft again without darkening the leather too much?

 

[Riku]

Well I finally got the stains on the front of my buckskins to where they aren't very noticable, but mow the leather (yes, it's real buckskin) is stiffer than it was before. I suspect that taking the stains out and recoloring the leather has washed out the oils in them, so what can I safely use to make them soft again without darkening the leather too much?

Real buckskin?? Do you mean it's braintanned?? If it is braintanned the reason why it got stiffer is that it hasn't been smoked and it need's to be re-tanned. Or when you washed the leather was the water too hot 'cause if water is too hot it makes the leather shrink a it's not good for it.

 

[JiminTexas]

No it was washed and dyed in cold water. It was air dried and did not shrink. By real buckskin, I meant that it is leather from a deer, not deer tanned cowhide. The reason for my inquiry is that, so far, everything that I have come across either warns me that it will turn the leather darker (i.e. neetsfoot oil) or that it should not be used on suede or soft finish leather.

 

[kansas_volunteer]

Give some thought to bagpipe bag dressing. It is made to keep thin leather soft and waterproofed. Don't know if it will change the color as pipe bags are generally dark to begin with.

 

[prd0036]

I wash mine in the washing machine using soap flakes and a little neetsfoot oil, a couple of cap fulls. Then I will run them through the spin cycle a second time and dry them in the dryer on low heat until they are close to dry. If they are a little stiff, just work them a little bit and they soffen up.

 

[Charles D. Prokopp]

Woolite works great for this. Once washed, it'll be kind of stiff, so bash it around, flex and work it. That'll loosen it up.

 

[fallaloosa]

something that has worked for me is taking it outside and looping the leather around a tree branch, then working it back and forth with a sawing motion. This tends to soften the leather up quite a bit!

 

[Frank/Pa]

I hear tell that the indian squaws used to chew on it. :grin:

 

[scott fellows]

i'm wondering why you'd wash a pair of skins in the first place. stains just give them that more authentic look. i would imagine they wore them out long before they'd have thought about washing them. just my two cents worth.
pieman

 

[laffingman67]

Wash your skins? :hmm: What kind of crazy science fiction is that? Just kiddin! :blah: Throw those buckskins in the dryer with NO heat. they should soften up pretty good.

 

[paulvallandigham]

FWIW, I wash my skins so I can stand to have them in the closet in the house. The smell is overwhelming when you mix mud, grease, black powder residue, and lord knows what else on pants after a weekend of fun. If you put them in a dryer, on cold, and throw in a couple of sneakers that are clean, after washing the skins, they will come out soft, and smelling much better. If you don't have sneakers, a couple of tennis balls or handballs will work just as well. The balls or shoes beat the leather as it is drying, along with the normal bar beaters in the machine. It works really well. I know a trapper who used fabric softener, in water to soak a fox pelt, to " tan" it, and then dried it in his machine dryer, first putting the pelt in a knit bag, and then throwing in some tennis balls. When it came out, the skin was soft and pliable. and the fur was undamaged.

I washed my skins in the bath tub, using a cold water detergent, and then hung them up in the bathtub to drip dry. They came out stiff, but I rubbed them over the back of a chair, and it only took a few strokes to soften the elkskin again. Now that I don't have a domestic supervisor, I can simply put them in my dryer!

 

[crockett]

I think Crazy Crow sells white clay. That's what the Indians used.

 

[atki]

I bought a pair of buckskin pants that were so stiff you could stand them in the corner. Took them down to the local leather shop and the ol guy there suggested I use Lexol leather conditioner. I used it, and it worked great. Sold the pants for twice what I paid for them.

These pants were really stiff.

WB

 

[redwing]

Cleaning your Buck Skins after a week end. "Geees" things are getting tame back East. :rotf: :youcrazy: I would think that beating the Buck Skins in a dryer with old shoes would tear the fringe off. :shake:

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you have fringe on your skins, ( what are you , Davy Crockett? ) then put them in a knit bag for " delicates", before putting them in the wash and dryer. Tennis shoes can be hard on fringe, but round balls like the rubber hard balls used for handball should not do any damage at all. Neither should tennis balls.

YOu can always wash them by hand in Woolite, and dry them in the shower like I did.