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I am going to try to dye leather a light-as-possible pink color to see how it turns out. My plan right now is to use oxalic acid to brighten veg tanned leather as much as I can without damaging it, then using a very diluted solution of Angelus Light Rose leather dye. After dying leather I always use Neatsfoot oil to rehydrate the leather and soften it up, since dying it always makes it super dry/stiff. The issue is that neatsfoot oil darkens the leather quite a lot, and I want to keep it as light colored as possible. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could use in place of Neatsfoot oil to rehydrate/soften the leather without darkening it? I am hoping to avoid conditioners that might leave it waxy such as creams containing carnauba or beeswax.

I sell tooled dog collars online, and I think it might be nice to send along a small container (like a lip balm container) of homemade leather conditioner with each purchase. I'm imagining something with the consistency of butter, that you can dip your fingers into and rub in with the warmth of your fingertips. I've dabbled in making hand balms for the skin (beeswax, shea butter and almond oil), and the recipe could probably be modified for leather. My thoughts for leather conditioner ingredients are: Beeswax (just enough to get the butter consistency, maybe 30-40% of the total?) Oil - Olive? Peanut? With a touch of neatsfoot? Vitamin E drops - a preservative Any thoughts or suggestions?

I’m guessing this is the right place? I went and purchased 2 gallons of 100% neatsfoot oil and it seems as thick as molasses and it’s a hot summer here in North Carolina. Spreading this is difficult to say the least! How do I thin this oil to correctly apply to leather? Im open to any suggestions

Hey y’all! I was wondering what I can use in a pinch from the kitchen to clean and bring leather back to life. A few days back I found that ALL of my leather care products have gone missing when I went to clean and condition an older saddle. I have had this saddle 3 years and I haven’t touched it, before that it sat in a antique shop for God knows how long, and before that I don’t think it was ever cleaned and conditioned. The saddle is super stiff in areas, dirty, and cracking around the tooled areas. All vital parts are in great shape. I’m leasing a horse that I can actually use this saddle on and I do intend to use it. Back to the kitchen.. I got to researching what I can use in a pinch and my search brought me here where I found an old post about using tallow. I don’t have tallow...I have pork fat, duck fat, and spray coconut oil. I opted to use my duck fat. I was quite shocked at the results and how the suppleness returned to parts of the saddle, granted my whole jar of duck fat went into the saddle..it was a tad thirsty.. The duck fat didn’t discolor the saddle either. Can I continue to use duck fat or should I get beef tallow/pork fat? Or should I just buy some kind of leather care product again? (Picture is of saddle after a jar of duck fat)

I have just been reading the many threads here regarding a leather conditioner recipe as I want to create my own. A widely used one here seems to be a mix of neatsfoot oil and beeswax. I have come up with a list of possible ingredients and would love to hear the pros and cons of each as some seem to be very controvesial. Beeswax Lanolin neatsfoot oil Tallow Carnauba wax turpentine cod liver oil Vitamin e eucalyptus oil tea tree oil Then to further complicate things (or just for some interesting reading) I came upon this article from the National Park Service Leather Dressing: To Dress or Not to Dress Would love to hear your comments. I have found a local source for beeswax. As of this moment that is the only ingredient I am 100% sure that I will be using.

Hello all, I've run into a bit of confusion lately. The more I try to research the more confused I get. I recently made a belt and dyed it with ecoflo, buffed, applied neatsfoot, buffed againm and again. Then applied satin sheen as a finish. While it looks okay I plan to experiment in the future with maybe mop & Glo. However how would I condition(think long term periodical maintenance/upkeep) this if it's already sealed with something like that satin sheen or mop & Glo? Would the conditioner be able to penetrate the Finish? Or could I use somthing like Montana pitch, or aussie instead of using satin Sheen or mop & Glo? Thanks!

Hi, I'm a little perplexed about which finishing products to use for various projects. For example, I see people carve and dye leather, then put an acrylic finish on it. Other times they dye and then put a leather conditioner or something like Snow Seal conditioner on it. Some talk about acrylic resolene. If someone uses acrylic, then 6 months from now wants to put some conditioner on the leather, you cant do that because the acrylic blocks the conditioner from working into the leather...so how would you ever condition old projects that have acrylic on them? What would you finish the following project with? And how would you go about conditioning the leather months from now? Book cover, knife sheath, motorcycle seat, purse, belt, key chain fob, guitar strap? Thanks

I have some 2-4 oz Tandy veg tan that I am stamping but I am having a real problem with it drying out. After I have cased it a couple of times, in different sessions, it then gets very very dry, I have used water, and the casing solution I found on here on different pieces. After the pieces have dried then they will not take any more casing and any type of oil or conditioner (Neetsfoot, Evoo, Bee Natural oil, Lexol) soaks in, turning the leather dark to very dark. None of these oils soften it the least bit, the leather is still sttiff and dry. What am I doing wrong or not doing, or what can I do? These are just test pieces for just this reason, to learn from. Sure could use any suggestions or ideas because I am spinning my wheels at this point. Thanks in advance for any input or answers to this. Paul

I am a beginner to leatherworking, I just made my first belt last night. The belt was not dyed, I went through all the processes, including edge beveling/burnishing with water, gum trag on the back, finishing with acrylic resolene, and then applying obenaufs leather preservative as a conditioner. My question is, do I really need to apply a finish? I would have liked the belt to be a bit darker, which im sure obenaufs would have achieved, had I not put a finish on before hand. Would just skipping the acrylic resolene finish, and just putting the conditioner on affect anything? Sorry if this has already been discussed, I wasn't able to find any information on it in the forums. Thanks.

I recently found myself making a half dozen bracelets for my in-laws, as sort of an "In memory of" trinket. The bracelets are already sent off, so this is more for future reference, but how could I best preserve the leather in something I'm giving away to people who have never given leather the first thought? Given the repetitive tight flexing nature of wristbands and the burning Arizona environment, I fear these memorial bracelets won't last long. I wanted to put some sort of conditioner on them, but everything I found was supposed to be reapplied every month or so, and most of them were wax-based, which I don't imagine would work very well through an Arizona summer anyway. And I can hardly talk the recipients into buying and applying conditioner themselves when I'm not around. Is this a lost cause and we'll just see how long the bracelets last, or is there something I could do next time as a one-time durability enhancement?

Hi, everybody! Long-time listener, first-time caller here. And I could really use some help! I mostly sew bags and small accessories with new leather (and I really don't do any dying except for edges, etc.), so I'm pretty far out of my league on this one. I have a dog with major anxiety, and so I procrastinate cutting his nails for way too long. As a result, he has done some major damage to about 1/3 of a big, hunter green leather sectional couch. What would you all recommend I do to try to revitalize the couch? It has scratches all over it (as you probably guessed), so the scratched parts appear dry, kind of flaky (but not with actual flakes I guess), and lighter in color than the rest. Should I try to apply a light coat of hunter green dye on it? Some kind of finisher? Also, should I do whatever you recommend to the whole couch or just the sections that are damaged? I would be so grateful for any help! THANKS! Elizabeth

Hi guys,newbie here! I know there's a few posts about this kind of stuff,but can't seem to find the info I'm looking for specifically,so any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Sooo,here goes..... (1) Is there REALLY any difference between "leather" paints,and acrylics(say,FolkArt)? (2) Can one/does one condition/oil leather anywhere in the process? If so,before or after painting? (3) Is there a REALLY GOOD sealer available? I'd prefer satin finish rather than stark high-gloss,but.... Thanks so much in advance for any help and I would love any other info/knowledge you might have about the whole painting/finishing thing!!!

I want to know the order of operation in leather strap work. I am trying to start a business selling custom dog collars. I want them to be quality and I seem to run into some kind of problem with every step I take. Here is the method I have adapted to so far: (I will note some of the other problems to see if I can get some extra advice.) 1. Cut and skive the leather with super skiver- (can't really find the trick to making this an easy task) 2. Sand the edges and the raw side of leather (for comfort) with a sanding wheel on a drill press 3. Bevel the edges 4.. Punch holes, wet and stamp 5.. Dye with the color of choice - Fiebings oil based Cordovan dye, Fiebings acrylic antique medium brown stain or a zelikovits water based pigment pink dye (pink seems to have streaks where the color doesn't take no matter how many coats I add and rubs off easily) 6. Let dry for an hour or so then color the letters with sharpie for the stained collars, metallic markers or paint markers for the dyed collars(paint markers are difficult to make even and not globby and metalic markers seem to wear off a little) 7. Spray with leather sheen 8. Let dry for an hour or so then burnish the edges with glycerin and saddle soap or Quik Slick on a nylon slicker attached to the drill press. (I am not sure how long this is supposed to take but it seems like forever and I still never get glass smooth edges) - ordered a wooden burnisher made for a drill press so hopefully it will help. My other problem is that sometimes the edges seem to crack in certain spots mostly around the buckle within just a few days. I use quality herman oak leather. 9. touch up the edges with the same dye 10. condition with lexol conditioner. 11. add hardware Ok... so where I get mixed reviews is at what time to apply the finishes and the conditioner. I am so confused that I kind of change it up every time I make one so I don't know if the order of operation is contributing to any of my problems or not. OR if the order of operations needs to change depending on what base of dye and marker I am using. I have been told to condition right after you stamp and before you dye and let it sit over night. I have been told you always put any oils conditioners or saddle soap very last because other products wont penetrate. I have also been told it's super important to use the leather sheen finish before you finish the edges and within two hours of dying But if a water resistant finish is applied won't it seal the leather from absorbing any other products - like conditioners, edge burnishing products and touch up dye?? I feel like if I understood the chemistry behind all of these products I would have a rule of thumb So confused. Any advice would be excellent! Quote MultiQuote Edit