chilout5 Report post Posted November 9, 2009 Hello everyone. I'm hoping someone can help me with a saddle I recently acquired. I've been working on restoring a '46 Otto Ernst and I'm having a problem getting the leather color to match. I've cleaned everything with Ivory soap and everything except one skirt and one fender looks great. The saddle was very dark, almost black in places and the previous owner had told me that the man they bought it from had "put some kind of coating on it." It doesn't seem to be any sort of lacquer and some color has come up, but it is still very dark compared to all the other pieces. Any ideas on how to completely remove the color? I know I read one post that suggested cleaning it with Kerosene, but that's a little scary without some verification from others that this method works. The saddle is in really good condition otherwise and I only need to replace one piece of leather for the rigging. I've attached a few photos, so comment if you'd like. You can clearly see the color difference in the fenders. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steveh Report post Posted November 10, 2009 Personally I would not put any kerosene on the leather , being that you would not be able to remove it and the odor. The saddle is 63 years old and there are many things that can change and discolor leather. Sunshine, sweat , salts , dirt, blood, grease and any saddle dresssings the previous owns may have used on it. I would clean it with feibings glyceren bar and warm water and soft brush. The top fender the lighter of the too is darker at the top where the where the stirrup leather is covered by the seat jockey.Obviously the stirrup fender on the bottom has been replaced. I would conditon it and accept it for what it is. Maybe some other will have ideas for you. Steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chilout5 Report post Posted November 10, 2009 Personally I would not put any kerosene on the leather , being that you would not be able to remove it and the odor. The saddle is 63 years old and there are many things that can change and discolor leather. Sunshine, sweat , salts , dirt, blood, grease and any saddle dresssings the previous owns may have used on it. I would clean it with feibings glyceren bar and warm water and soft brush. The top fender the lighter of the too is darker at the top where the where the stirrup leather is covered by the seat jockey.Obviously the stirrup fender on the bottom has been replaced. I would conditon it and accept it for what it is. Maybe some other will have ideas for you. Steve Steve, I agree about the smell of the kerosene. The top fender is darker at the top because I haven't cleaned that portion yet. It started out looking like the bottom one. I've tried the feibings and it is as though there is something they put on the leather which is preventing the cleaner(s) from reaching the deep down grunge. The bottom fender has not been replaced completely. Only the leather strap, which contains no tooling. My concern is that the saddle will be multiple colors if I don't do anything other than condition it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harfindel Report post Posted November 28, 2009 Not sure if this will help, but there is a low-aromatic kerosene that is used by leather preservationists as a carrier for oils, such as neatsfoot and lanolin, as a step in reconditioning. The oil/kerosene mixture is applied to the leather, and the low aromatic kerosene is allowed to evaporate slowly, over a span of weeks. I have not used the kerosene myself but it might be useful as a cleaning agent, if the leather were reconditioned immediately afterwards. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
