Old Leather

[jamesg63]

While cleaning out a old building on the property I came across quit a bit of old leather my Father-in-Law left. Is this salvagable? It has lots of black spots and well............ I think you can see by the photos. This is just one piece of many. I'll really hate to have to toss it out. If it is Salvagable what can I do to make it useable? Thanks in advance'

Jim

[8thsinner]

Unless it's cracking and actually falling apart you could do a lot with most leathers.

Surface damages can be tooled out, smoothed or lace/concho/button covered.

If there are any damaging liquids or toxins soaked in you will probably find they won't take colours or may degrade from the inside out.

Rotting and serious mold should be removed or avoided in use I think though.

If you check out my post apocylaptic thread in leather conversation forum, you may also get a few ideas. Shops are selling stuff that wold pass for it. Anything you made to suit the market would be a lot more genuine than most.

Infact if you have lots of it spare, I would not mind about three or four A4 sized pieces just to see what I could do with it...

Edited December 24, 2009 by 8thsinner

[jamesg63]

Unless it's cracking and actually falling apart you could do a lot with most leathers.

Surface damages can be tooled out, smoothed or lace/concho/button covered.

If there are any damaging liquids or toxins soaked in you will probably find they won't take colours or may degrade from the inside out.

Rotting and serious mold should be removed or avoided in use I think though.

If you check out my post apocylaptic thread in leather conversation forum, you may also get a few ideas. Shops are selling stuff that wold pass for it. Anything you made to suit the market would be a lot more genuine than most.

Infact if you have lots of it spare, I would not mind about three or four A4 sized pieces just to see what I could do with it...

Ok so how do I remove the mold and stuff?

[8thsinner]

Try some little rubbing alcohol with a dab of water, infact a fifty fifty mix shouldn't be too aggressive, almost like casing dab that on with a sponge and let it sit for a minute then pat dry. condition and wax it, or dye it condition it then wax it and see how it looks.

You said you have a lot so test it first on the edge and see if it damages it in anyway.

Also, in theory fabric washing soloutions can kill and remove the stuff, but it would have to be ph neutrel and have a high enzyme content.

[jamesg63]

Try some little rubbing alcohol with a dab of water, infact a fifty fifty mix shouldn't be too aggressive, almost like casing dab that on with a sponge and let it sit for a minute then pat dry. condition and wax it, or dye it condition it then wax it and see how it looks.

You said you have a lot so test it first on the edge and see if it damages it in anyway.

Also, in theory fabric washing soloutions can kill and remove the stuff, but it would have to be ph neutrel and have a high enzyme content.

Will I still be able to tool it after this process?

[katsass]

While cleaning out a old building on the property I came across quit a bit of old leather my Father-in-Law left. Is this salvagable? It has lots of black spots and well............ I think you can see by the photos. This is just one piece of many. I'll really hate to have to toss it out. If it is Salvagable what can I do to make it useable? Thanks in advance'

Jim

Good morning James, A good friend gave me 2 full sides of old (15+ years) 9-10 oz veg tanned a year or so ago. There were some mold marks such a you have as well as about a dozen mud-dauber wasp nests (empty) on the edges. I found that a good wipe-down with a 50/50 of rubbing alcohol followed by a complete cleaning of the leather with saddle soap worked wonders. I didn't do a whole side with saddle soap but wiped them both down with the alcohol/water mix. I then cut the leather for a project and saddle soap it well, rinse it, allow it to dry and go to work. Here is a pic of a soft-side shotgun scabbard made from some of that leather. Impefections don't hurt a bit depending on your design and the use the project is intended to be put to. Hope this helps. Mike

[jamesg63]

Good morning James, A good friend gave me 2 full sides of old (15+ years) 9-10 oz veg tanned a year or so ago. There were some mold marks such a you have as well as about a dozen mud-dauber wasp nests (empty) on the edges. I found that a good wipe-down with a 50/50 of rubbing alcohol followed by a complete cleaning of the leather with saddle soap worked wonders. I didn't do a whole side with saddle soap but wiped them both down with the alcohol/water mix. I then cut the leather for a project and saddle soap it well, rinse it, allow it to dry and go to work. Here is a pic of a soft-side shotgun scabbard made from some of that leather. Impefections don't hurt a bit depending on your design and the use the project is intended to be put to. Hope this helps. Mike

Very Nice Thank You! I'll give it a shot

[Lillian]

I have used white vinigar ( 1cup to a quart of water.)to kill the mold & spores and then if there are water stains or dirt stains I use oxalic acid wash and clean it and then use a baking soda wash to stop the acid action. Always use rubber gloves though. It wrecks your hands otherwise. I have saved lots of old leather that way. Even old saddles that have been abused and knocked around. I can clean them up this way and then I use conditioner to make them look good.

Sometimes the mold will literally eat pits into the leather so you might have to cut around such pitting.

Hope the leather you found is good to use .

regards, sadlmakr

[whinewine]

Hello,

I would, just to be safe, use

1] an initial alcohol wipe-down,

2] oxalic acid wash (OA is a bleach mostly used in woodworking & is commonly known as 'wood bleach'), and

3] deglazer to remove oils & oily stains that would screw up absorption of dyes.

4] Conditioner (lexol, Bick 4 or your choice -whatever...)

If the leather is heavily cracked, however, I'd say it's toast.

russ

[jamesg63]

Thanks everyone, I'll give the alcohol rub a try I think. Then go from there.

[jamesg63]

Ok so here it is. I used the Alcohol 50/50 with water and about a teaspoon of White Vinegar. I submerged the leather in water then using a med bristol scrub brush applied the the solution. Let dry overnight after cleaning and cased the leather and this is the result. I used Black dye cause there were still a few minor imperfections.

[MikeCahill]

Ok so here it is. I used the Alcohol 50/50 with water and about a teaspoon of White Vinegar. I submerged the leather in water then using a med bristol scrub brush applied the the solution. Let dry overnight after cleaning and cased the leather and this is the result. I used Black dye cause there were still a few minor imperfections.

looks good to me, it's the "imperfections" in leather that make it so good to work with, and to own, if you want perfect, use plastic, You will always be your own worst critic, as you know the problems that particular piece of leather had, your customer doesn't know how you have had to beat that mold into submission, and doesn't care, like I said, it looks a fine bit of leatherwork to me, and I'm sure it will to him/her

cheers

Mike