Recommended Products For Finishing Belts

[mlapaglia]

I oil after molding a holster or tooling a belt and thats before dyeing. If after it feels like it still needs some oil Ill oil it again. All depends on the condition of the leather and the type of dye I am using.

[Cyberthrasher]

a little oil will help pull the dye in as well, and the leather really likes it after repeated wet/dry cycles from tooling. But, I also condition after it's all finished and sealed too. I see it as possibly the last time the piece will ever get oiled (although I hope my customers will care for their custom orders).

[Skwerl]

Tuff Cote is water based. As we know oil and water don't mix. Either go to a spirit based dye and you shouldn't have any issues.

[ScottWLW]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have been putting a coat of neats foot on and using resoline. The results seem to be very good so far.

[footrat]

I use Fiebing's oil dye, and while I don't dip my products, I dye them HEAVILY, and on both sides. My last couple sets of suspenders were cut from the 13 oz. end of a skirting side. After dying, they were dry as all get out. Both the dark brown and the black were ashy-looking. It took several heavy coats of neatsfoot oil to get the straps back to normal. Had they been dyed a lighter color, I'd have probably looked for a product that doesn't darken the color as much. Anyways, once the oil soaks in, I break in the straps by wearing Nitrile glove (for grip, not because of rub-off) and rolling the straps over and over, all up and down the length, front and back. I finish with Fiebing's Saddle Lac, which can be a bit glossy. Once the Saddle Lac is dry, I rub Eco Flo black antique gel into the dark brown straps, and buff it off right away. It slightly darkens the appearance of the straps, because the finish either holds some of the gel, or it just dries on the surface a bit. Either way, I like the effect. I have made the mistake of rolling the straps AFTER Saddle Lac, and it's not good. The finish breaks up and wrinkles really finely, enough to let a lot of antique gel settle all over it. It makes the piece much darker when using black antique over dark brown dye. Here's how it looks when I do it correctly.