Saddle Oil Question

[MADMAX22]

Petroleum oils will or should I say can brake down leather. I know of some people that use motor oil to oil there leather but in my experience working as a mechanic petroleum oils and deisel or other fuels will brake down leather big time.

Yes you can put to much oil on leather. If your using neats foot oil there is a somewhat fine line on too much and just right. Generally speaking pure neatsfoot will help condition the leather and restore lost oils if used sparingly. I usually use one nice coat with my new products. The leather is able to absorb it easily and that is all that is needed. Anything else I put on will be conditioners and more of a wax based weather sealer.

I am not a pro but from what I understand is that too much oil cant be absorbed into the leather and you end up with what you have. ALso too much oil will loosen the fibers in the leather from what I understand and make it allmost spongy in extreme cases. Thats why its hard to work with older leathers when oiling. Ive heard of people restoring saddles that using allmost nothing but dr jacksons hide rejuvenator.

Take a look thru the saddle section and you will see thats one of the first things that most warn about with restoring saddles is not use put too much oil on.

Disclaimer, Im not a pro so there are others that know alot more then myself, Im going off personal experience and what Ive read here and other places.

[Brewerkel]

I also found out what oil product they use. Fiebing.

The shop should take the time to read the directions on the bottle. Or they could look at the Fiebing website for more info, specifically http://fiebing.com/LeatherCare_Tips.aspx

The only way to get all that oil out quickly is some type of solvent. This has the disadvantage of stripping dye with the excess oil. Definitely take it back to the shop and complain. Your relative won't have a job long if the shop tolerates this poor craftsmanship.

BTW, I have distributed Fiebing products wholesale for nineteen years. This is a common mistake for amateur leather crafters, not for working shops.

[Saddlebag]

I played around with an old leather girth to see how much oil it would take without affecting the leather. Three light applications went well, the fourth left a gummy, sticky finish. OK, let's see how to remove some of this. Saddle soaping a few times, dish detergent, glycerin soap. They all removed only a modicum of oil and even after a year it remained gummy.

[Bar C Leather]

I've done TONS of research on saddle making and everything I've read says to be EXTREMELY careful not to over-oil because there is no way to remove excess oil. I believe I've heard that it can be detrimental to the leather but don't remember seeing that in writing. Good luck and I hope for your sake I'm wrong about not being able to remove excess (