California Red?

[Janelle12]

I am a beginner leather worker and I overheard some gentlemen discussing saddles in the local leather store, and one of them was talking about how a few decades ago in California, it was very popular to, when you were done building a saddle, pay some kid 25 cents to rub the leather with olive oil and then leave the saddle in the sun, and they would turn this really pretty deep bright red color. I'd like to know more about this method if anybody has the knowledge. I like details and specific instructions, I'd like to try it on a few small leather pieces or two....thanks!

[jwwright]

The color you will get depends some what on the skirting leather you have used, but yes you can get a deeper, more red-ish color by setting the saddle in the sun . I have not used olive oil on new saddles I have built, except for show saddles which were desired to be very light in color.........so obviously I didn't set them in the sun. On most other saddles I use pure neatsfoot oil. I like to set a new saddle out in the sun for a while when the weather permits, and I have an extra day or two before I need to ship the completed saddle out to the customer. It doesn't work well here in the winter! JW

[Janelle12]

Thanks. I'll give the neatsfoot a try and see how it works! The first item's just a wallet so if I mess it up it'll be ok lol

[horsewreck]

JW is right on this topic, I would only add that in years past one of the popular saddle leathers in California and the north west was from Muir Mcdonald Tannery. Though they are now out of business their leather oiled off to a pretty red color, and it had to do with the bark they used to make their tanning liquor which I think was made from Fir bark. Olive oil is my choice for oiling new work when I use veg. oil, but I still use mostly pure neatsfoot on my work. A word of warning if you are sunning leather in very hot climates in mid summer you can over do it and blotch, and burn the leather. In Texas I sit stuff out but not in direct sunlight, you still get the same result. Compare some leather scrap done with olive oil to some done in neatsfoot oil and you can figure out what you like best....... Jeff

[RyanCope]

It is interesting to see different finishing methods. I actually work at keeping my stuff away from the sun.

Ryan