saddle soap and burnishing

[CWR]

I remember reading in an old post where someone, I think it was Bruce, said they used saddle soap during the casing process and felt it helped get a good dark burnish. for the life of me I can't find it now. I would sure appreciate any info and how and when to apply the soap.

Thanks,

CW

[bruce johnson]

CW,

I used to. I wet my leather up, let it sit a while, sponged on a light coat of white saddle soap and slicked the leather before I bagged it. This was one of those things shared with me by an older maker, and for me it does hold the moisture a little better than plain water. When I started using the water/lexol/baby shampoo/listerine mix I got away from the saddle soaping. That mix also has some history to it.

[CWR]

Thanks Bruce. I'm going to try it. I'm in the Big Bend country and we usually have very little humidity and if it helps retain the moisture it'll be a big help.

[okiwen]

CW,

I used to. I wet my leather up, let it sit a while, sponged on a light coat of white saddle soap and slicked the leather before I bagged it. This was one of those things shared with me by an older maker, and for me it does hold the moisture a little better than plain water. When I started using the water/lexol/baby shampoo/listerine mix I got away from the saddle soaping. That mix also has some history to it.

Bruce,

My google-fu is weak this morning. Where is the later recipe you referred to?

Thax

PS. you are like the tool god or something. You have had or tried every tool I could ever want.

[bruce johnson]

Kevin,

The mix I use now is from Ben Cox, who got it about 25 plus years ago from a great tooler. The mix is 1-1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup lexol conditioner, a tbsp or two of baby shampoo, and a tabsp of Listerine (the thymol in it is a mold inhibitor). It works better for me to case with than anything else. I got an email a while back from a guy who was using the Lexol/shampoo mix and then top dressing with saddle soap. He was in Tucson or someplace like that, and he thought he could go a lot longer with both than either by itself.

As far as being a tool god, Bob Douglas is a tool god. I am just part of the congregation. I have been very fortunate with the people we have met in our travels and on these internet groups. I am not afraid to visit guys and pick up tips. If I see something I haven't tried, I'll ask them about it. Even the regional differences can be interesting - for instance the British influenced guys using plough gauges vs. the north Americans using draw gauges. Also the older tools were made for guys making a living with them, not or the hobby guy with a price point in mind.