Newb With A Question - Where Did I Go Wrong?

[BillB]

I use a lot of Tandy leather and their kits and over the years I have modified my casing process to include a complete soaking of the leather in a tub of warm water. I will completely submerge the leather until all bubbles stop appearing on the surface of the water or the surface of the leather when I remove it from the water. This process may take several hours. I will then let it dry and then case. What I have found is that since there is no documentation of where, when and how the leather of tanned, especially the leather in kits, this process allows the leather to swell back to its normal thickness. It also removes any residue from the tanning process. In the extreme case, I have seen the leather double in thickness and turn the water a medium brown color even though the leather was supposed to be natural in color. THis does add another day or two to my process, but the results, in my opinion are well worth it.

BillB