RVacc Report post Posted October 5, 2023 Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Some of my products are 3 seperate pieces of leather sewn with welting together with one closed end. They are sewn inside out and i have to turn them right side out for the finish side of the product to be on the outside. I have run into an issue lately where one of my leathers has been cracking/tearing in the turning process. I have used this leather for years and this is a new problem i have run into. All my leathers are analine and this specific leather is a very soft finish to it but i just cant figure out why it is cracking/tearing now after 5 years of use. To turn the pieces i insert a rod into the open end of it and brace the tip against a second rod and roll the leather down to get it to turn right side out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Burkhardt Report post Posted October 6, 2023 Are you using any type of conditioner on it? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RVacc Report post Posted October 6, 2023 We condition the leather once the product is complete. we have tired leather softener before turning it but to no avail. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Littlef Report post Posted October 6, 2023 Are you saying that you have a stock of leather that has now been on "your" shelf for 5 years? If that is the case, I would make the guess, that it has been slowly drying out, and has now reached a moisture point where it lost elasticity and has become brittle. I might look at where its being stored. Are you in a dry climate? A furnace and Air conditioning both tend to pull moisture out of the air. You might put a hygrometer in the room where the leather is stored to see if that is a factor. Using a humidifier might help if the room is dry. My only other thought is adding a leather conditioner, but you said that you already tried that. - I recently used vinegaroon on some leather straps, and let it dry out completely for a few days before oiling it with Neats foot oil. The leather became stiff and brittle. Adding neatsfoot didn't bring back the flexibility. I learned that there comes a point where the oil can no longer restore the original flexibility. Prevention might be the only solution. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SUP Report post Posted October 6, 2023 You could try using a non-oily conditioner first. I think chemical guys conditioner is one such - being water based, it might restore some of the moisture. Follow it up with something like neatsfoot oil or anything that will retain moisture. Not sure this will work but could be worth a try. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Burkhardt Report post Posted October 7, 2023 17 hours ago, RVacc said: We condition the leather once the product is complete. we have tired leather softener before turning it but to no avail. Are you using a analine specific conditioner? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RVacc Report post Posted November 10, 2023 I dont believe our conditioner is analine specific. The leather hasnt been sitting for 5 years. We have been using this leather for 5 years and have never run into this issue before. hard to pinpoint the climate as texas likes to change its weather daily Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
