ScottWLW

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have been putting a coat of neats foot on and using resoline. The results seem to be very good so far.

flynscot- So you oil your belts/straps before dyeing? If so, I was always conditioning and oiling after dyeing because that is what really dries out the leather. Maybe I should try and switch out my process along with trying a few different products.

Thank you for the responses. I am going to try some of your suggestions. We use Tuff Kote on our holsters and the finish is incredible. The belts are another story. I have some Resoline and RTC in the shop so I might have to take a look at those finishes again. How long do you guys let the neatsfoot set before using your finisher?

Hi Everyone, I know there are some posts about finishing and conditioning belts, but I am still having a hard time finding the answers I need. First I want to explain what we are currently doing when making our belts. We use a 1.5" 8-9 oz, and we cut them to size and punch all the holes. After everything is punched and skived we dip the belt in Fiebings oil dye. Once that is dry we use Oakwood leather conditioner to soften and waterproof the leather. We rub this product in and work the belt quite a bit to make sure everything is soaked in and the desired flexibility is met. After the conditioner we use Tuff Kote, a clear coat that we also use on our holsters. Here is the problem, the Oakwood conditioner and the Tuff Kote are not working very well together. It is making the belts sticky and the Tuff Kote is not setting correctly. We decided recently to try and not use any conditioner. So basically we are trying now to just dye the belts, which after drying leaves them very stiff. But if you work with the leather it will become somewhat soft again, and then we just put the Tuff Kote clear on them. However I am afraid this is not sealing and waterproofing the belt enough, especially the back side which is touching peoples clothing directly. The last thing we want are dye bleeding issues. Just wondering if anyone has any advice or a preferred process and/or products that you use on your belts. Anything would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Scott