Problem with too much neatsfoot oil

[stelmackr]

How can I lighten the project?

Bob Stelmack

[$$hobby]

i use neatsfoot on all of my bridle repairs. it will temp darken the leather and then lighten up to where it was before.

[Rawhide]

i use neatsfoot on all of my bridle repairs. it will temp darken the leather and then lighten up to where it was before.

This is true if you only use one or two applications, but when you use more than that or soak it with neatsfoot, it will darken the project significantly. I really don't have an answer of how to lighten it back up. Maybe some one like ClayB, or Johanna, CitizenKate, Bruce Johnson, or Yaklady will know.

Marlon

[kseidel]

You can wash out a lot of the oil with hot water. If smooth or rough-out, a presure washer will lighten the leather to almost natural. The presure will damage tooling. The principle is that water will displace the oil and then evaporate leaving the leather dry again and in need of more oil.

Keith

[$$hobby]

This is true if you only use one or two applications, but when you use more than that or soak it with neatsfoot, it will darken the project significantly. I really don't have an answer of how to lighten it back up. Maybe some one like ClayB, or Johanna, CitizenKate, Bruce Johnson, or Yaklady will know.Marlon

I would think that "soak" it in neatsfoot oil would eventually harm the leather?

You can wash out a lot of the oil with hot water. If smooth or rough-out, a presure washer will lighten the leather to almost natural. The presure will damage tooling. The principle is that water will displace the oil and then evaporate leaving the leather dry again and in need of more oil.Keith

Someone posted that casing the leather in Hot water will cause it to harden. I wonder what would happen to it with the neetsfoot soaked leather.

[kseidel]

I would think that "soak" it in neatsfoot oil would eventually harm the leather?Someone posted that casing the leather in Hot water will cause it to harden. I wonder what would happen to it with the neetsfoot soaked leather.

You never want to soak leather in any kind of oil. Depending on how hot the water to cause unfinished skirting to harden. Scalding the leather will make it harden. New skirting is already hard and any casing will cause the fibers to tighten tighter when dry again making it harder than original. It is up to the leatherworker to "finish" the leather to soften and to withstand the elements.

Keith

[Rawhide]

I would think that "soak" it in neatsfoot oil would eventually harm the leather?Someone posted that casing the leather in Hot water will cause it to harden. I wonder what would happen to it with the neetsfoot soaked leather.

Sorry, I didn't mean to soak it by dunking it under. Bad choice of words. What I meant was that you can easily put too much oil on the project and thereby overload the fibers. Sorry for the confusion.

Marlon

[yaklady]

I don't believe there is any way to lighten leather. Making it darker is easy, of course. Leather will darken with age, and there is no way to stop that, especially if you are using it. There is one way to make your leather appear to be lighter. Bob Beard uses acrylic paint the same color of the leather when the project is made. The paint will not change color, therefore Bob is preserving the original color, so to speak. If you want to lighten the color, you could paint it.

Oxalic acid can lighten leather a little, but not significantly. It also had a tendancy to dry the leather. I always use oil afterwards, which, of course, darkens it again.

Too much Neatsfoot oil will definitely harm the leather. Neatsfoot oil softens by breaking down the fibers of the leather. To much oil means too much breaking down. I got impatient oiling my tack as a teenager and put the reins all the way into the oil bottle. I pulled them right out and wiped them off, but the damage was done. They gradually broke down and got longer and longer till they broke. The horse thought that was great, he could reach more grass, and eventually got to go where he wanted!

Extra Virgin olive oil softens leather by lubricating the fibers rather than breaking them down. I'm sure too much of it would be harmful, too. You would have all the neighborhood mice stir frying in your tack room! Some people say it goes rancid, but it doesn't here in our cool climate.

Hope this helps somebody.

Kathy