Oxalic Acid

[badLoveLeather]

Hey Guys,

Along with the great info I get here from you guys, my quest for fire leads me out and around town to locals. Where I live there aren;t many Cowboys left but a lot of hoity toity horse people and so there are a few saddle makers around. Since I'm still new to carving I went to the local guy yesterday in hopes of learning some. One of the things he did tell me was to use Oxalic Acid to treat the leather before dying.

Where do I buy this stuff around town? Can this be purchased at the local super market or hardware store?

Thanks Again!

Travis Poole

Bad Love Leather

[Crystal]

Hi Travis-

I found mine at my local pharmacy. I think Springfield Leather was mentioned as a supplier- but can't remember for sure.

Crystal

[barra]

The local hardware should sell it as wood bleach.

Barra

[whinewine]

Travis: I got mine at the local Sherwin-Williams Paint store. It is a Savogran(Sp?) product, so a full service paint store should carry it, or be able to get it for you. It lasts forever because you use so little.

You won't find it at Lowes or Home Depot, but you might find it at your local corner hardware store.

Oh, yeah- as Barra says, it's listed as 'wood bleach'.

russ

Edited December 4, 2009 by whinewine

[badLoveLeather]

Is using this stuff really necesary? The last few projects I did I used oil dye and dyed both sides of the stain so the penetration was full.

[outcast]

Is using this stuff really necesary? The last few projects I did I used oil dye and dyed both sides of the stain so the penetration was full.

I use oxalic acid to clean my leather before I dye or put a top coat on it. I bought mine at Walmart for $1.92/21 oz. can. It's called "Bar Keepers Friend". Works pretty good for me. I've seen it on ebay for $6 & up for 1 oz.

[tonyc1]

I've always bought mine from the local pharmacy.

I've never used it prior to doing anything with leather, only after to remove any dirty spots.

Tony.

[RandyScott]

I recommend that you look at the following links. It is supposed to be some nasty stuff. I believe it accumulates in the body.

http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/o6044.htm

http://www.sciencestuff.com/msds/C2193.html

http://www.inchem.org/documents/icsc/icsc/eics0529.htm

When I was cleaning out my dad's old wood working shop, I found a 5 pound box of the stuff that had never been opened. The label had faded almost to the point of being unreadable but the "store this side up" and "Caution - Corrosive" got my attention. Had I not known about the stuff I probably would have opened the plastic bag within the box to see what it was or just tossed into the nearest garbage can.

[badLoveLeather]

Sure I've used Bar Keepers Friend in the Kitchen. Its that a pure form of Oxalic Acid? So its a teaspoon of powder to a quart of water?

[outcast]

Sure I've used Bar Keepers Friend in the Kitchen. Its that a pure form of Oxalic Acid? So its a teaspoon of powder to a quart of water?

I doubt if it's pure. Looks different than the stuff on ebay.