Hey there,
I've been using antique for a while now (both gel antique and feibings paste) and most of the time I've applied it with a t-shirt or other soft rag or a sponge (sometimes slightly dampened depending on the effect I'm going for). And I've used many different methods for wiping it off. Such as paper towels, t-shirt rags, sponges, leather scraps, and a ruler or protractor with a cloth wrapped around it.
But most of the experienced (or in many cases, old) leather craftsmen I've talked to tell me to use sheeps wool to apply and buff and wipe off antique. And I love the effect they get on their products. So naturally I tried it. Many many times. And I always have the problem of having little wool fibers sticking to the leather. I've tried trimming the wool and even using synthetic wool and daubers. But no matter what antique I use (gel or paste) I always get the same problem with the fibers sticking to the leather.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Also, does anyone know how to achieve that natural burnish color that looks almost like no antique was used, but it's too dark to be just the natural burnish effect. If you go onto Chan Geer's Facebook and look at some of the pictures of his magnetic notebooks or look at a lot of Adam Tanner's work, you'll see what I'm talking about. I've tried using feibings Sheridan brown paste and it's too dark for that specific effect. So I tried mixing it with the neutral antique paste and then the color just got really horrible looking. Any advice on reaching that effect would also be appreciated.