Leather maintenance

[steve white]

What are you favorite leather balms, preservatives, cures to bring back truly damaged leather, or well maintain what you spent good money on?
Two caveats: smell must not get me in trouble with wife (outdoor only recommendations still accepted) AND it would be great if selections did not run off deer by the unnatural smell!
Brands can encompass those of European or other sources. Personally I like the performance of Effax Leder-Balsam, but my German is a bit rusty to let me know all the ingredients beyond a bit of lanolin. Probably smells too nice and strong for the deer woods, sold at equestrian shops where they don't concern themselves with that.
Balistol fails the smell test, too, according to the missus.
What are your hunter favorites?
Hope for this to be of service to all.

PREFER RECOMMENDATIONS NOT BE STICKY AFTER APPLICATION, PLEASE.

 

[CM McKenzie]

Olive oil from the kitchen cabinet works great for most things. I use many different oils, waxes, glycerins, etc. when I build saddles, but I use olive oil for most applications.

 

[Zinz]

First clean the leather with either saddle soap or even Dawn dishwashing soap, if it’s really dirty (what I use on old saddles)

Then it’s pure neats foot oil to rehydrate old leather. Just keep applying it till it won’t take anymore. It will darken the leather but it is the best stuff to make old leather soft and supple again. It won’t work miracles, mind you, but it really soaks in, unlike a waxy product.

Once the leather has taken a good bit of the neats foot oil, you can top it with products like Lexol for a smoother sheen.

Typical results on an old ranch saddle that sat many years in a hot, dusty Texas barn. It was very dry and cracked.

Cleaned with lots of Dawn and water and dried in the shade.

Many applications of Neatsfoot oil

Ready for another many decades of riding.

Ed Z

 

[wesheltonj]

I use a lot of sno seal. It’s almost pure bees wax.

 

[Tex .416]

I have tried a bunch through the years. Neatsfoot oil never impressed me much. Old fashioned Saddle Soap is good for cleaning dirty leather.

For use on leather boots, Obenauf’s Heavy Duty leather protectant. It is beeswax with some oil. It helps maintain the leather without softening it very much, as softening makes leather more prone to cuts. For leather that you want to stay soft and supple, Oakwood Leather Conditioner. It is what I now use even on the strops for my straight razors.

 

[Flbt]

First clean the leather with either saddle soap or even Dawn dishwashing soap, if it’s really dirty (what I use on old saddles)

Then it’s pure neats foot oil to rehydrate old leather. Just keep applying it till it won’t take anymore. It will darken the leather but it is the best stuff to make old leather soft and supple again. It won’t work miracles, mind you, but it really soaks in, unlike a waxy product.

Once the leather has taken a good bit of the neats foot oil, you can top it with products like Lexol for a smoother sheen.

Typical results on an old ranch saddle that sat many years in a hot, dusty Texas barn. It was very dry and cracked.

View attachment 723653

Cleaned with lots of Dawn and water and dried in the shade.

View attachment 723654

Many applications of Neatsfoot oil

View attachment 723655

Ready for another many decades of riding.

Ed Z

Same on saddles and boots here

 

[Tex .416]

Steve,

adding a note about the Obenauf’s. It can leave a tacky finish, but heat it with a blow dryer to warm the leather and it will absorb into the leather. Wipe off any excess with a cotton rag or even an old sock.

 

[Luvthunt]

Used Sno Seal for years.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Mineral oil worked well on my saddles and tack. It's a bit thick so heat it up before applying. Works great for keeping mice and vermin from chewing up leather. Apparently it tastes bad. Also washable so won't stain jeans like neatsfoot oil.

An old packer gave me that tip. But I confused mineral oil with cod liver oil. I'm surprised a grizzly didn't pull me off the horse to chew on the saddle. Man, did it smell bad! Couldn't get rid of the stench. Finally sold the saddle. Anyway it was a cheap piece of crap Mexican thing with plastic tree so no great loss. Came with my outfit when I bought the horses and trailer.

 

[Rare Breed]

Used Sno Seal for years.

I use Bickmore for my elephant skin boots

 

[Flbt]

Mineral oil worked well on my saddles and tack. It's a bit thick so heat it up before applying. Works great for keeping mice and vermin from chewing up leather. Apparently it tastes bad. Also washable so won't stain jeans like neatsfoot oil.

An old packer gave me that tip. But I confused mineral oil with cod liver oil. I'm surprised a grizzly didn't pull me off the horse to chew on the saddle. Man, did it smell bad! Couldn't get rid of the stench. Finally sold the saddle. Anyway it was a cheap piece of crap Mexican thing with plastic tree so no great loss. Came with my outfit when I bought the horses and trailer.

Hey I knew a old cracker cowboy that would only use sheep tallow.
He would go to the sell barn and buy the oldest fat sheep he could find. Make tallow for the year and feed the meat to his dogs.
August 109 you would know where he was at a mile away in the swamp.

 

[rookhawk]

What are you favorite leather balms, preservatives, cures to bring back truly damaged leather, or well maintain what you spent good money on?
Two caveats: smell must not get me in trouble with wife (outdoor only recommendations still accepted) AND it would be great if selections did not run off deer by the unnatural smell!
Brands can encompass those of European or other sources. Personally I like the performance of Effax Leder-Balsam, but my German is a bit rusty to let me know all the ingredients beyond a bit of lanolin. Probably smells too nice and strong for the deer woods, sold at equestrian shops where they don't concern themselves with that.
Balistol fails the smell test, too, according to the missus.
What are your hunter favorites?
Hope for this to be of service to all.

PREFER RECOMMENDATIONS NOT BE STICKY AFTER APPLICATION, PLEASE.

The mildest "do no harm" option is Lexol which is mostly lanolin. It's the only leather treatment authorized for ferrari interiors.

A conservation option for frail, antique pieces is "Pecard Antique Leather Dressing". It applies like vasoline and will buff to a shine. It's sticky until dry. Use this if the leather is nearing crumbly-dry condition.

For general "do no harm" on leather and metal, the tower of London and I both use Renaissance Wax which is a micro-thin wax that will not remove patina but provides protection. Its used on priceless items in museums worldwide.

NEVER use neatsfoot oil, it's PH dissolves threads and stitching.

 

[rookhawk]

Postscript: It looks like Fiebings now makes a semi-synthetic neatsfoot oil that is less prone to damage stitching. Make sure you don't use "pure" neatsfoot.

Prime Neatsfoot Oil Compound | Fiebing's

fiebing.com

 

[Mountainshadows]

Pure neats foot oil (avoid compounds) for dried out leather or new leather project. For touching up decent leather use Fiebings Aussie Leather Conditioner. This can also be applied after a neats foot oil job. My wildland firefighting boots (Hawthorne Smoke Jumpers) get a complete wash and a good coating of Aussie Leather Conditioner once a year. For cleaning I use only glycerine saddle soap.

The idea is to avoid man made compounds as these have proven to break down the fibers of the leather over time.
As stated in a previous post olive oil is also a decent oil for leather.
Avoid oiling to the point of saturation. To much oil will cause the leather fibers to become weaker. The idea is to preserve the condition of the leather not turn it into a noodle. I have known others who do this I do not agree with the total saturation method.

The above is how I treat leather. I made my first saddle in 1999 and have made saddles, tack, and various other leather items since this time.

 

[Mountainshadows]

It's not my experience, nor any of the older saddle makers I've learned from, that neats foot oil breaks thread down. Synthetic compounds have been proven to break down fibers in the leather (I'll see if I can find that info. It was from years ago.) That is why it has always been preached , by the professional saddle makers I know, to use only pure neats foot oil.
I use a poly thread on my saddles and leather products and know of one saddle from 20 years ago that still has the same thread. There is a gentleman daily wearing a belt I made 15 years ago with the same thread.

 

[SStomcat]

What type of leather? Calf or Cordovan? If you want the best of the best, use Saphir products. Their Rejuvenator and all leather balm are par excellence. I use them for all my Bespoke leather shoes, both in Cordovan and Calf leather, and can attest to them.

Amazon.com : saphir renovateur creme