saddles and neats foot oil

[5050ranch]

Howdy all

This my first post and the forum heading said "got a question and don't know where to post, start here" so here I am. I am a horseman, not a leather artisan but I have lots of saddles, buy and sell saddles and tack and there is one particular problem/question that perhaps one of you might know the answer to or know a link that can give me an answer. I've always used Neats Foot Oil ( pure) to oil my saddles and tack, works fine for me but one problem is the hand tooling on some saddles will turn darker than I would like. I have heard that acetone can remove some of the darkerness from the tooling areas but I am not about try anything till I hear from some experts like ya'll. Also, how good is Lexol compared to NFO ? I get some pretty rough saddles and tack and NFO really works great for me down here in Texas. Any input, ideas, links etc would be greatly appreciated.

David

Edited January 10, 2010 by 5050ranch

[wyldflower]

Hi David and welcome!

I am not an expert by any means, but I have some experience with rehabbing tack. Many production saddles are sprayed with a finish at the factory to make them shiny. The problem is that often this finish prevents NF or similar oils from penetrating into the leather (a heavy application of just about any finish can do this). Even saddle soap loses much of it's effectiveness because it can't penetrate into the leather. I have used diluted acetone to get that finish off so I could really clean and condition the leather. Now, I've only done this when it was clear that oil wouldn't penetrate otherwise, as acetone isn't anything I want to put on leather unless I have to.

I doubt acetone would be helpful in keeping the tooling lighter than the surrounding leather though - but I have never used it to that purpose or observed that so someone else may have a different answer. My guess is that if there is a finish on the leather preventing the oil from penetrating well, there may be less finish down in the recesses of the tooling so more oil is penetrating there, thus the darker color. That's only a guess, however.

I would recommend you browse the Saddle and Tack forum - there is a wealth of information there! I did pull up this post about finishing saddles - the topic was about finishing newly made custom saddles, but I think there is information about how to maintain a lighter color to the finish that might be of interest to you

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=3225

I have not used Lexol in 15 or so years - so can't help you there. I use light coats of NF or olive oil after thorough saddle soaping to condition. I like RM Williams or Bee Natural Leather Balm for a final finish.

Hope this is of some help to you,

Wyldflower

[5050ranch]

Saddle and Tack Forum...perfect ! Thanks for the info and thanks for your input, it is greatly appreciated !

D :-)

Edited January 11, 2010 by 5050ranch

[MikeCahill]

Howdy all

This my first post and the forum heading said "got a question and don't know where to post, start here" so here I am. I am a horseman, not a leather artisan but I have lots of saddles, buy and sell saddles and tack and there is one particular problem/question that perhaps one of you might know the answer to or know a link that can give me an answer. I've always used Neats Foot Oil ( pure) to oil my saddles and tack, works fine for me but one problem is the hand tooling on some saddles will turn darker than I would like. I have heard that acetone can remove some of the darkerness from the tooling areas but I am not about try anything till I hear from some experts like ya'll. Also, how good is Lexol compared to NFO ? I get some pretty rough saddles and tack and NFO really works great for me down here in Texas. Any input, ideas, links etc would be greatly appreciated.

David

Hi David, over here (Yorkshire England) I use a lot of raw neats foot oil, Neats is the viking word for cattle and it is boiled out of the ankles and knees of slaughtered beasts, cows have poor blood circulation in their legs, so the oils lubricating their leg joints have a low freezing point. I get it from a local tripe shop, Tripe is boiled cows stomach, it is considered to be a delicacy, eaten cold with salt, black pepper and vinegar. I've never tried it myself!! Anyway, Neats foot oil does darken the leather, but as it is absorbed it lightens up again over a week or so, but never back to as light as it was. I would have thought that the tooled areas are sealed with a water (and Oil) proof finish, any absorbsion will be in the recesses of the tooling, I would think that could look blotchy at first, but again over a week or two it will come back to almost it's original colour People have told me that raw neats foot oil will go rancid, I've never found that but it does make stitching tasty to mice!