pella Report post Posted June 16, 2008 Here the link, read the bottom part Proper leather conditioning. http://www.properautocare.com/leclcoex.html I ear about some of these "secrets ingredients" before but look like this text confirm to me that they should change labeling on some products... Neetfoot oil= pig fat (mostly...) no neatsfoot at all neetsfoot oil compound=pig fat + motor, mineral oils mink oil=pig fat+silicon Here i get lucky, i can buy real liquid mink oil. And they talk about what in lexol conditionner, very interresting. lexol conditioner oil is syntetic sperm whale oil lexol nf conditioner oil is modified lard (pig fat) both do NOT contain petroleum product or silicon thats great. But i'm wondering whats that synthetic sperm whale! lol!!! How do they make that?? Synthetic sound petroleum to me?! they also say not to clean leather under sun of that was under sun=hot, it may spot, discolor leather. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pella Report post Posted June 16, 2008 ok, still not 100% sure but i found that here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/n1xw324260336506/ text is below: Synthetic wax esters with properties similar to those of sperm whale oil have been prepared entirely from soybean and linseed oils. the synthesis required: (a) selective hydrogenation of the oils with copper-on-silica gel catalyst, ( hydrogenolysis of fatty acids to fatty alcohols with copper-cadmiumchromium catalyst, and © esterification of hydrogenolysis products to yield predominantly long chain fatty esters which contained unsaturation in both the alcohol and acid moieties. Similarity of physical and chemical properties indicate that these wax esters are possible replacements for sperm oil. After sulfurization, the wax esters also have potential as extreme pressure lubricant additives. So lexol brown bottle is vegetable oils?! They sell linsed oil for leather in tackhop around here. But why do they call that "synthetic sperm whale oil"? I know nothing about chemistry sorry. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rancher Report post Posted June 16, 2008 I usually pick up a couple of large containers of 100% vegetable oil to oil leather with and it seems to work just fine and costs a lot less than some of the other so called "Leather" products out there. I have used a product called "Harness Oil" from one of the larger suppliers,(can't remember where I got it, exactly) but they wanted a tax number when I called to re-order (which I don't have because I like to keep this in the hobby realm) so I'm out of it, but I really liked it for saddles and tack. It wasn't as heavy and didn't seem to leave as much of a greasy residue as neetsfoot oil. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HorsehairBraider Report post Posted June 16, 2008 That's an interesting article, thank you. Their comments on how some of these oils are good but just have certain drawbacks was very cool - I had always noticed that some oils came right back out and I always wondered why! That's too bad about neat's foot oil - but I've used it and it works. I sometimes use Lexol but for most of my life I've been using corn oil. Now I can understand why they are different. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jordan Report post Posted June 16, 2008 (edited) Don't particularly like neetsfoot seems to oily and to easy to apply too much. I have had good results with regular virgin olive oil not the extra. Plus I like the smell of it. Also it's been around for a couple of thousand years so it can't be that bad. From what I've read about it, it has been used for dang near anything you can think of, and makes a dandy salad dressing too. Edited June 16, 2008 by Jordan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
abn Report post Posted June 17, 2008 Here's my two cents on this discussion. I think the best all-around conditioner for leather is Lexol; it seems to work well on all kinds of leather. But I had to stop using it when I switched over to Eco-Flo dyes because the Lexol would lift the color. Nowadays I use pure neatsfoot. I've used olive oil in the past and think it's a fine (and better smelling!) substitute, but I continue to use neatsfoot because I have to believe there's at least some performance edge for an oil designed for leather vs. an oil designed for cooking. But maybe I'm wrong. All three seem to work just fine on veg-tan leather in my experience. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dbarleather Report post Posted June 17, 2008 I'm also a fan of olive and vegetable oil. The only down side to this......the rodents like it too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
