pedro51 Report post Posted October 19, 2011 (edited) Hi there, I'm a complete newbie to the world of leather craft but I'm very enthusiastic about taking this plunge. This is my first post and I hope I'm following the rules.... As someone who has to subsist on a disability pension, I'm always looking for bargains or cheap ways of doing things without sacrificing quality of the finished product. My question is this. I bought a sewing palm and treated it with baby oil (scented mineral oil) and then rubbed some "dubbin" into it. The result looks good. Can I finish ALL my future projects in this way assuming I want a light tan finish ? Do I have to buy something (presumably) more expensive like Neatsfoot Oil ? Thank you for taking the time to help this newcomer.....pedro Edited October 19, 2011 by pedro51 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pedro51 Report post Posted October 19, 2011 Sorry people, here's a before and after pic..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wishful Report post Posted October 19, 2011 I tend to use Olive Oil without much issues. I would be concerned of the purity of most baby oil and avoid scents. There are several topics on here about oils so I suggest a search if you dont get the answers directly here. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtimer Report post Posted October 19, 2011 I think you should stick to neatsfoot oil or extra virgin olive oil as those are products from nature. Baby oil is probably a petroleum product which is not a good combination with leather. Olive oil is easy to find and not very expensive. / Knut / Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
horsewreck Report post Posted October 19, 2011 I'm with Knut on this one, olive oil is great, and I have used alot of pure neatsfoot oil as well. I am not a big fan of some of the stuff marketed as Neatsfoot "compound" because it is often mostly mineral oil with very little neatsfoot in it. Some folks swear by vegetable cooking oil, corn, sunflower, peanut, and others as long as they are a liquid, not solid when cold like crisco. I new an old timer years ago that swore by unsalted butter and this fella rode an old kak that was several decades old and the leather was in good shape. If I were you I would avoid the use of baby oils in favor of some of the other low cost oils, besides oils aren't a very big part of the cost of doing leather work...... Jeff Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KAYAK45 Report post Posted October 20, 2011 Hey Pedro. Welcome to leather working. On a fixed income and still want to treat your leather? You could do what was used for say... a thousand years! Eat a lot of bacon and save the grease. Yeh, all kinds of animal fat can be rendered and used to treat leather (hamburger comes to mind) ( an animal after all). Just keep your stuff away from mice! Really, it works. Kevin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtimer Report post Posted October 20, 2011 Hey Pedro. Welcome to leather working. On a fixed income and still want to treat your leather? You could do what was used for say... a thousand years! Eat a lot of bacon and save the grease. Yeh, all kinds of animal fat can be rendered and used to treat leather (hamburger comes to mind) ( an animal after all). Just keep your stuff away from mice! Really, it works. Kevin It is a good idea, if you use animal fats , to avoid fat that goes rancid. Bacon fat is not the first of my choices ! The internal fat around the kidneys for example, is a good choice ! But why make things more difficult than they are? A bottle of olive oil won´t empty a wallet and is easy to come by! / knut Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
