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I apply a thin coat of mineral oil on the rim of each new bottle of glue. Then, I wipe it clean when I am done and reapply before closing. This way, it is easy to wipe off the rim and the new coat prevents sticking. I wipe the rim again before I use it the next time. It has helped me so far. I apply a very thin coat so it does not mix with the glue.

@fredk It is perfectly fine if you have not been able to post for a while. Life happens and this is not a job or something that is so strictly time-based. It is a simple experiment that will go on for years. @deboardp This is a casual experiment by people who are not in a laboratory or full-time professionals in the leather industry, to think about microscopic results and other matters. Like all experiments, people coming and going do not affect the results. I dare say if I drop dead tomorrow, Fred will certainly continue or others might take up the baton. Who knows? if you read the entire thread, you will see that we are trying to answer the simple question of whether mineral oil is good or bad for leather, and about other oils as well. It is not about the complete preservation of leather professionally. Knowing one oil is good or not-so-good might influence a reader's decision to use or not use that oil, either alone or with other additives like waxes, oils and other chemicals. Nowhere do I or anyone else here, from what I have read so far, think that oils are the only way to take care of leather. We are talking about caring for our leather items long term, not just the leatherworkers but the customers as well, so that when they decide to buy any products for caring for their leather, they can have an idea about the oils in those products and whether they want to use them or not. Maybe one day I or someone else will test different waxes and solid fats in a similar way. Frankly, I hear 'experts' speaking everywhere, always, always anecdotal, because preservation takes decades. We don't know how things were used over decades, what else was done to those leathers, and so much more that we don't know. So depending on what people say, seems to me, to be a bit disingenuous. From what I have read, from you and everyone else on this forum, it appears, at least to me, that what is used on leather differs depending on the part of the world the persons are from. People have always used what is available to them. Naturally what is used in the US is different from what is used in the far East as is different from what has been traditionally used in Europe and so on. Frankly, it appears to me that post-tanning, oil and wax stuffing is done to replace the fats lost during tanning and once the leather is ready and sold to leather workers, most often, it just needs care and conditioning. For that, people swear by so many different oils and waxes. From Neatsfoot oil to Mink oil to beeswax to tallow to cod liver oil and so on. If all those work well for people in different parts of the world over the years, the only thing they have in common is that they are all some form of lipids. Anything that prevents dehydration should work, I should think. Of course, that is just common sense speaking. I dare say there will be a scientist out there spending hundreds of thousands to finally come to the same conclusion. Of course, we also have the ''smart people' who read everything on the net and come to their own conclusions - no idea whose beliefs they decide to use. Everywhere I hear anecdotal evidence of why something is good or bad for leather, always someone else who is an expert, who of course has similar anecdotal evidence or has examined ancient leather supposedly preserved with the item in question, and little else known about how it was cared for, treated, etc. Now if someone who is 90-100 years old came up and said he was oiling or preserving leather with preservative A for the last 80 years and has cared for it very well, with evidence, and then says preservative A is horrible, I might believe. Other 'evidences'? I prefer to reserve judgment. That is, in fact, why we decided to do this simple experiment of whether specific oils are good or bad for leather. And I am sure you know that the best experiments are always those which answer simple questions - 'Do specific oils damage leather, help them or are neutral?" versus a very generalized "How best to preserve leather items long term" - which would be the worst type of question any one could ask and try to answer, scientifically, in one step!! Incidentally, I make my own leather conditioner, leather preservative and blade wax, all of which I make after quite a bit of research and experimentation. However, knowing that people have different ideas and beliefs, and not wanting in any way to appear like a superior know-it-all, since it is only recently that I started leatherworking, I have not and will probably not put up those recipes here. Suffice to say, they do contain most of the items popularly used. To put what we are doing scientifically, the Aim of this experiment is: To determine whether Mineral oil is good, bad or neutral on leather, specifically veg tanned leather and the effects of other oils as well, in comparison. The procedure : We, whoever contributes here, used specific oils we have with us, applied specific amounts on specific sized pieces of the same veg-tanned leather side and kept identical pieces under different conditions to see how the leather responded to those different conditions. We, of course, have controls as well. The Conclusions? The final one will be a long time coming but currently I have discovered that short term at least, mineral oil is the most useful. You can read about it in an earlier part of this thread. Now, if you would like to get a microscope and sufficient leather to wax and then slice and check the effects of different waxes periodically, you are welcome to join us. As I always say, The more the merrier. Of course, you will need a really large piece of leather, probably an entire side per type of wax, because this experiment should go on for decades to be useful and, each time, you will need vertical and horizontal sections to be really informative. Welcome to the experiment, in advance.

That is beautiful! I'm not surprised that your daughter loved it. And the love her father made it with?.. I bet she loved it more.

You're welcome. This is the tool kit I mentioned earlier. It is about 4-5 Oz thick - this is difficult to roll even when I keep the smallest items in it - even small stamps make it far too bulky to roll. And it should have had slots for tools on only one side. It should have actually been made with thinner leather. I have another similar kit for punches that is made with synthetic material - that has slots on only one side.

Yes you understood correctly. I meant burnishing the surface of the splits. The split I have, even on the smooth side, is rougher than the grain side of full or top grains. Water burnishing works but needs a lot of elbow grease to buff; less so with Tokonole. Mop-n-glo I have heard of as a sealing agent. I have no experience with it so do not know if it can be used here as a burnishing agent. Maybe someone else here will give you that information. Other burnishing agents are gum trag, beeswax, saddle soap. However, most of these, including Tokonole, might make casing to tool or carve or dyeing difficult as they, except for saddle soap, as far as I know, all resist water. So burnishing with water/saddle soap or burnishing after dyeing and then cutting might be a way out.

Some of the high-end leathers like Saffiano are splits with additional layers of synthetics on them. I have heard others are too, but do not know which ones. I have no idea of their strength either. They could hold up or it could be that being so expensive, people who buy items made from such leathers are just more careful with them. I have a split from Springfield, a large, stiff, heavy one. I discovered that pieces of it make great 'poundo' boards - much kinder on my chisels and punches. I keep it on a block of wax which is itself placed on a granite slab. Works well for me. The split soon becomes weak and floppy where I punch on it though. Whether all leathers do that so easily or splits are weaker, I do not know. I just replace it as needed. I also use it to practice stitching and checking dyes. One side of the split is relatively smooth , I used water and burnished it and plan to practice tooling on it. I did not use Tokonole as I plan to dye it as well. Tokonole would probably give it a good shine and finish. The split that I have is too heavy for using as a support for floppier leathers. But I know there are items made with plain splits. I have a tool kit made with split leather - the type where you place the tools in little slots and roll, so it is very flexible. It is smooth on both sides but it has not been burnished or dyed - it is a plain untreated split. If that is possible, i see no reason why you should not be able to make pouches and bags, if your splits are of the appropriate temper. You could try burnishing them with Tokonole first, to ensure they can be made to look presentable. Any burnishing agent should work, not necessarily just Tokonole. Hope that helps a bit.

When I see people breeding dogs and cats for specific things, it infuriates me. Let them continue to evolve the way they have through the years and stop getting exaggerated forms of anything -noses, backs, whatever. Unless it is for health, it is not right. Pure breeds bred with care and integrity are fine but all those naked cats and Persians with scrunched up noses like the Bulldogs and all that is explained so much in detail here are nightmares! I remember in 2003, having a long discussion with my Genetics professor about how such selections of specific features and characteristics through genetic manipulation would be possible in humans by 2020. I had thought it would not happen until at least 2040 - good to be proven right about humans. - in dogs and cats, it's been happening all through, in a rough and haphazard way.. Can see it happening in humans as well - blue eyed babies, babies with big butts, babies with... you get the picture. I suspect 'intelligence' will be the least in demand. I, for one, always get my pets from shelters and they have always been darling; would not win prizes at shows but are our babies and perfect for us. Our current dog, Pepper, wants to be a cat - after seeing our now deceased cat filling soil post-poop, she does the same! Only she wisely does it some distance away, while mom or dad pick up after her! Then sneezes all the way home. Ordered some face masks for her. Only found one seller. Let's see if she agrees to wear them.

Thank you @Burkhardt. @packjac I was worried about rancidity too and very few oils stink as much as rancid coconut oil. But guess what? It did not turn rancid in my experiment. There is no smell at all. It will be nice if you could upload photographs of your leather with the olive oil on the thread of our experiments as well. The more people who contribute, the more the information gained.

@nstarleather I know! Our fur-babies are our babies, just as much as our human ones. I certainly worry as much about my furry and feathery babies. Talk to them like to humans too.. People think I am touched in the head! LOL, but I don't care. They understand and respond and that is what matters. My poor dog still coughs and sneezes when we take her for walks, even with the antihistamines. I wipe her clean as soon as she comes home but she still snuffles for a while. So I am thinking of a face mask for her. Looking for one, though I am not sure she will agree to wear it. It needs to keep out the pollen but allow her to sniff and smell everything.

I plan to change her allergy meds periodically. That might be effective for her, just like it often is for us, humans.

Have you looked in Etsy? They have a very large number of patterns for leather items and might have one for this as well.

A bit late in the thread. but these days, whenever I cut any leather, I try to keep the edges intact. Since I normally cut as near the edge of the larger leather as I can anyway, I get some thin, long sections, too thin to make belts or straps. If I get a continuous one, it's great. Else I just sit with scissors and cut them into long strips - lace I suppose, but not particularly well done, since they are not really long enough to use as lace for anything that I make and are usually the edges, so not smooth or clean enough in texture. But, I use these strips of long and short laces to tie just about anything that needs tying in the house, from leather rolls, to .packets of food to bread packets to even my hair at a pinch. We rarely use thread any more. Also, while cutting repeated pieces, I try to keep areas in between to some symmetry so that I can then make keychains or zipper tags with those pieces. Just been making loads of keychains for gifts for dozens of people, so thought of that. Key chains are an unexpected bonus, almost automatically formed and less headache of wondering what to do with all the small pieces left behind! Also, if I cut really close, I still get that lace anyway, the lace that I use for tying. This I guess everyone does but I thought to mention it anyway.

Yes. They take a while to get back to their normal routine. My dog still has congestion, just not so much. The vet says it just has to be endured, like we all do. Allergies are the worst here, with all the vegetation.

@TomE if the crystals don't form with this method, that is great. I did not like the idea of so much kneading. Thank you for that information.

My dog has severe allergies and coughs and sneezes every time we take her for walks. So she is on baby Claritin - prescribed by her vet - which really helps - not 100% but quite a bit. We ran out of Claritin 2 days ago and missed a dose. The allergies of course promptly returned. She also stopped eating - a worry that occurs periodically. Now I realized she goes off her food when her allergies act up because she gets a stuffy nose and cannot smell anything. With such a sensitive sense of smell, that must be awful! Anyway she got her Claritin dose and I led her to her food - milk first. She looked so delighted to be able to smell it again and had her meal - a relief. Just thought I would put this up here in case anyone else has pets with a similar problem.

@fredk charming song, morbid theme notwithstanding - googled it as I could not catch the words - lovely accent though. @dikman, there is a mention that it needs constant kneading because otherwise the rosin will form crystals in the wax. So would not pouring it into molds allow crystallization as well?

To do what @@chuck123wapati says, you get straight line punches as well, which do the same and they are not expensive. You should get them on Amazon.

Who Indeed. So you can use either for making hand wax? I was looking it up - it appears their methods of production are different as well - that is when they are sold packaged. If you don't collect your own...which I can't , and need to buy it, is resin better or rosin, to make hand wax?

Are resin and rosin two names for the same thing or are they different things entirely?

@fredk LOL sounds familiar. I have made my reputation by losing a huge role of paper. I keep all small thingamabobs below 1-2 inches in size in one box - of which hubby knows the location. So things are getting lost less often. @TomE I have to try that!

Found a nifty little tool on Temu recently, for waxing thread as you use it. No idea how it will work for those of you working on larger projects, but for me, with my small projects, it works fine. You get it with white and yellow wax and cost me less than a $1.5. Making those little discs of wax should be simple for those who want their own mix in there. I though the container is useful.

Thank you @fredk. No hurry. This should be fun, not a chore.

After all the fuss so many make about mineral oils being bad for leather, in my experiment at least, ,up to this point, mineral oil seems to have the best effect on leathers. Good. It's cheap, no odor, non-poisonous and abundantly available. I will continue this experiment but will certainly use it in my leather preparations without needing to wonder about its safety or efficacy any more.

Not forgotten! Sunday today and decided to take a break from gift making. Two and a half months on, here are I am, with a photograph of the effects of the oils. I used mineral oil, mink oil, coconut oil and neatsfoot oil. These are my observations for today: Mineral oil kept the leather the softest. The leather has a smooth feel throughout, and is not warped, except for the piece left outside which is very slightly curved at the edges but still feels smooth and supple. Coconut oil kept the leather nearly as soft and smooth as mineral oil. It darkened the most of all the oils, although this is not very clear in the photograph. Also, no smell at all. Mink oil dried the most and caused the most warping in all locations. It also darkened the least in all locations. Neatsfoot oil fell somewhere in between, dried but not as much as mink oil, darkened but not as much as coconut oil. Controls: As expected, they dried a little over time, drying more outside and in the car than inside or in the garage. Also curved at the edges as they got a little dry. Regardless of the oil, the pieces kept outside darkened significantly, including the control; the coconut oil darkening the most; mink oil darkened the least. So oiling is not needed to darken leather when kept in the sun but without oils, leather darkens only slightly. with oils, it darkens to a deep, rich color, even without dyes. I do not plan to re-oil the leather as yet. I keep planning to add more oils to test but hate the thought of a bigger grid, more conclusions to work towards. Just being lazy I guess.

@fredk I suspect some of the people here are truly perplexed about his stubbornness in the face of so many good experiences and proof with M&G and his refusal to even consider it while others just enjoy needling him a bit.