Ok I'm finishing  out a knife sheath,  and wet molded it to the knife last night.  I knew the leather straps were quite dried out from the dye, but when I wet the sheath the straps bristled out at the edges (with lots of the little fibers sticking out.)  I had finished the edges of the straps prior to assembly using gum Tragacanth with a nice shiny slick finish, and it was a few days before I attached them.    
Any way to save this? 
I am thinking of conditioning with neatsfoot oil or lexol, but I am fairly sure that I will not be able to re slick the edges with it assembled. 
Even if I cannot save this one how does one prevent this in future projects?  I have never had this issue in the past.