Casing mixture

[karl]

Hi everyone, I was just kind of reading about how and what various people use to case their leather.

Here is a formula that I found on a forum someplace and I started using it and I love it and it works great and makes your leather easier to carve also. I've been using this for severial years and I love it.

3 Cups water

3 teaspoons neatsfoot oil (pure)

squirt of Dawn (dawn, joy or ivory) dishwashing liquid

As the instructions stated, the dish detergent or soap acts as a "surfactant". According to the Web dictionary, "a surfactant is a surface-active substance, such as a detergent or soap, that lowers the surface tension of a solvent (usually, water)" . Basically, it makes the water "wetter" and it soaks into the leather quicker. Plus the soap or detergent also acts as a lubricant, making the leather cut smoother. The Neatsfoot oil helps to keep the natural oil in the leather and keep it from drying out and I think also adds to smoother cutting and tooling. When it has been setting for a while and I want to use some more on my leather I'm working on, I found shaking it up to mix it makes a lot of soap bubbles on top so to kind of mix it after it sets a while, I just swirl it around a little and then turn the spray bottle upside down and let it remix that way and cuts down on the bubbles. The Neatsfoot oil kind of darkens the leather noticably but when it dries, it comes back to its almost natural color.

Karl

[goertzen77]

Hi everyone, I was just kind of reading about how and what various people use to case their leather.

Here is a formula that I found on a forum someplace and I started using it and I love it and it works great and makes your leather easier to carve also. I've been using this for severial years and I love it.

3 Cups water

3 teaspoons neatsfoot oil (pure)

squirt of Dawn (dawn, joy or ivory) dishwashing liquid

As the instructions stated, the dish detergent or soap acts as a "surfactant". According to the Web dictionary, "a surfactant is a surface-active substance, such as a detergent or soap, that lowers the surface tension of a solvent (usually, water)" . Basically, it makes the water "wetter" and it soaks into the leather quicker. Plus the soap or detergent also acts as a lubricant, making the leather cut smoother. The Neatsfoot oil helps to keep the natural oil in the leather and keep it from drying out and I think also adds to smoother cutting and tooling. When it has been setting for a while and I want to use some more on my leather I'm working on, I found shaking it up to mix it makes a lot of soap bubbles on top so to kind of mix it after it sets a while, I just swirl it around a little and then turn the spray bottle upside down and let it remix that way and cuts down on the bubbles. The Neatsfoot oil kind of darkens the leather noticably but when it dries, it comes back to its almost natural color.

Karl

I have used water and dawn dish soap but it makes perfect sense to ad some neatsfoot oil to keep the leather from drying out. I know some people use tanning oil but I didn't want to buy a whole thing of tanning oil to try it but neatsfoot oil I use all the time.Thanks for the idea.

Edited February 7, 2009 by goertzen77

[Rawhide]

Karl this is what I use... It's called the Ben Cox formula.

It's 1-1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup lexol conditioner, 1 tablespoon of baby shampoo, and I put in 1 tablespoon of listerine for mold prevention. You can scale everything up to make a larger batch. It seems to keep well as long as you shake well before using it.

I pour some out in a small plastic tub (tupperware style) and apply it with a sponge. I think it makes the burnishing of bevels a lot better for contrast.

[karl]

Karl this is what I use... It's called the Ben Cox formula.

It's 1-1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup lexol conditioner, 1 tablespoon of baby shampoo, and I put in 1 tablespoon of listerine for mold prevention. You can scale everything up to make a larger batch. It seems to keep well as long as you shake well before using it.

I pour some out in a small plastic tub (tupperware style) and apply it with a sponge. I think it makes the burnishing of bevels a lot better for contrast.

Rawhide, I have some lexol and I think I will mix up some and try it out. YOu mention better burnishing and that mix I use works good to for that, but I will try that and see how it works, Thanks

Karl

[rickeyfro]

The oil doesnt affect dying later?

[karl]

The oil doesnt affect dying later?

I've used this for a long time and dyed it and hand painted projects sprayed witih this formula and haven't had any problems and plan on using it until something better comes along.

Karl