Milky liquid when tooling…

[ThisIsMyFirstRodeo]

Hey all, 

Well the title kinda says it all: here and there while I’m actively stamping, a thin milky liquid will rise to the surface. 

Yes, water rising probably means that I’m casing too much, but that’s not the question. I had thought that perhaps I hadn’t rinsed the soap off thoroughly from cleaning the leather before working it, but then I noticed it even when I hadn’t cleaned it first.

Wish I had a pic to show, but it’s not something I think about when it happens, and I have yet to find rhyme or rhythm to encourage it. Thanks for any insight.

—AZR

[fredk]

What type of leather are you using? I don't mean 'veg tan' but more specifically

[AlZilla]

1 hour ago, ThisIsMyFirstRodeo said:

Well the title kinda says it all: here and there while I’m actively stamping, a thin milky liquid will rise to the surface. 

 

The same hide, or totally different hides? That at least isolates it to the hide or something you're doing.

[chuck123wapati]

What did you clean it for, and what did you clean it with?  its probably the soap.

Edited 11 hours ago by chuck123wapati

[Hags]

Ditto Chuck. I just case mine, and that is an overstatement. I really just get it wet until it quits soaking it up fast. But I only use 8/9 for the most part.

[bland]

If there is any liquid coming up from the leather while tooling the leather is still too wet.  The top grain should almost be the same color as it was before you got it wet.    

[bruce johnson]

Yes, Obviously too wet when you are stamping and fluid squeezes out but I have had that milky fluid with some leathers. My thoughts are it is some of the oils and treatment in the leathers. Before we kick the can here, it happened mostly to me with Argentine vegtan leather from the Sadesa Tannery. Sadesa was some of the cleanest and finest leather I have tooled. Not all foreign leather is cheap urine smelling crap contrary to keyboard advice. Sadesa did not get as boardy after casing and tooling like some leathers do. The word was that it had more treatments. 

  Casing is an art, but not rocket science. There are wipe and go/rewet as needed people, drown it and air it for a day people, and a lot of wet it/bag it, and set aside folks.   Some good toolers wipe on something like saddle soap or baby shampoo and slick before tooling. My casing mix is milky to start with. Water- Lexol - baby shampoo - Listerine. Herman Oak and some others that tended to be "drier" I used more Lexol in the mix. This mix gave me more working time, better burnish, better molding, and more even oiling and dying afterwards. Everyone else's mileage will vary. If plain old water works - great. The bottom line is stay with a consistent leather tannage and learn what works with that leather. Then you aren't trying to figure out the moisture amount and time for even penetration on every new piece of leather you get.

[ThisIsMyFirstRodeo]

4 hours ago, bruce johnson said:

Yes, Obviously too wet when you are stamping and fluid squeezes out but I have had that milky fluid with some leathers. My thoughts are it is some of the oils and treatment in the leathers. Before we kick the can here, it happened mostly to me with Argentine vegtan leather from the Sadesa Tannery. Sadesa was some of the cleanest and finest leather I have tooled. Not all foreign leather is cheap urine smelling crap contrary to keyboard advice. Sadesa did not get as boardy after casing and tooling like some leathers do. The word was that it had more treatments. 

  Casing is an art, but not rocket science. There are wipe and go/rewet as needed people, drown it and air it for a day people, and a lot of wet it/bag it, and set aside folks.   Some good toolers wipe on something like saddle soap or baby shampoo and slick before tooling. My casing mix is milky to start with. Water- Lexol - baby shampoo - Listerine. Herman Oak and some others that tended to be "drier" I used more Lexol in the mix. This mix gave me more working time, better burnish, better molding, and more even oiling and dying afterwards. Everyone else's mileage will vary. If plain old water works - great. The bottom line is stay with a consistent leather tannage and learn what works with that leather. Then you aren't trying to figure out the moisture amount and time for even penetration on every new piece of leather you get.

Thank you, Bruce. I appreciate your input regarding the milky color.
Most recently, it happened to be 2-3oz and 5-6oz econo veg tan from Tandy, probably Argentinian in origin, if I had to guess. (Before the peanut gallery chimes in dishing on their quality, it’s what I have available, and more importantly, it’s what I can afford…)
As far as casing goes, I don’t believe there’s any problem with my process involved, only my execution. And I’m aware of it. Skill comes with practice, and im still learning the craft. 
These pieces I didn’t bother to clean first, and I only used a spray bottle of tap water, so it couldn’t have come from me. I had considered the possibility of it being something from the tanning process, but I also freely admit that I know nothing of the tanning process. 
I don’t know if I’m “glad” per se, but at least I know I’m not crazy, and someone else has also experienced this. 
— AZR

Edited 1 hour ago by ThisIsMyFirstRodeo
Typo