Trying to clean and soften antique glove leather

[ElizS]

Everyone here seems so knowledgeable, so I thought I'd jump in and see if anyone could help me!

I buy and care for antique dolls, and their bodies are often white kid leather, of the same kind that ladies' gloves were once made of.  Most of the leather is in remarkably good condition given its age, but a doll I recently bought has a very dry, hard, brittle body that needs conditioning and cleaning (if possible).  She is from the 1880s, so 140 years old, and the goal is to give her a little lift so she can get through the next 100 years in decent shape.  

I've bought and tried several products now, and the big issue is that they all seem to yellow the leather terribly, even ones that are pure white before they are applied.  So I'm looking for something I can use that will soften the leather so it won't break, but also won't change the color.

If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them!  Not sure why this is a tough problem, but I have to admit I tried some stuff and got stumped.

[Mulesaw]

10 hours ago, ElizS said:

Everyone here seems so knowledgeable, so I thought I'd jump in and see if anyone could help me!

I buy and care for antique dolls, and their bodies are often white kid leather, of the same kind that ladies' gloves were once made of.  Most of the leather is in remarkably good condition given its age, but a doll I recently bought has a very dry, hard, brittle body that needs conditioning and cleaning (if possible).  She is from the 1880s, so 140 years old, and the goal is to give her a little lift so she can get through the next 100 years in decent shape.  

I've bought and tried several products now, and the big issue is that they all seem to yellow the leather terribly, even ones that are pure white before they are applied.  So I'm looking for something I can use that will soften the leather so it won't break, but also won't change the color.

If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them!  Not sure why this is a tough problem, but I have to admit I tried some stuff and got stumped.

Welcome to the forum :-)

I'd try some beef tallow. There is an old recipe with beef tallow and neatsfoot oil, but the neatsfoot oil will darken it a bit, so if you try pure tallow it might be better. But I guess it will still darken the leather just a bit until it is dry again. Similar to if you wet leather with water, it will immediately become a bit darker.

It is possible though, that the leather is too dried up to be salvageable. But you won't know until you try it.

Brgds Jonas

[SUP]

Any oils and waxes will darken the leather. You could try the leather conditioner and cleanser that 'the Chemical guys' sell. It did not darken any of my leather but test it first. It might make a slight difference that might not be visible on colored leathers but visible on white. 

[AlZilla]

I'm going to suggest you find some other leather that you don't care about to test on.

To pile on Mulesaw's comment, I recently talked to a taxidermist friend about old hides. He says tanned hides can certainly dry out to where they're just not salvageable.

I'll follow along to see how you make out.

[Northmount]

19 hours ago, ElizS said:

I buy and care for antique dolls, and their bodies are often white kid leather, of the same kind that ladies' gloves were once made of.  Most of the leather is in remarkably good condition given its age, but a doll I recently bought has a very dry, hard, brittle body that needs conditioning and cleaning (if possible).

Moved to  Tooling, Stamping & Carving Leather Dyes, Antiques, Stains, Glues, Waxes, Finishes and Conditioners.