Leather Conditioner Recipe?

[pupweb]

I have a secret......... Don't tell any one

It's not really a secret but if you want to know how to make your own search for your favorite product MSDS (material safety data sheet). The MSDS will tell you what's in the product. It may not tell the ratios but with a little experimentation you can nail that down.

My brother and I at 712gear.com make our own resolene, oil based conditioner, and silicone conditioner.

Hope this helps

-Dave

[Bob Blea]

Great info, as I've been thinking of sending along a conditioner as well. One (dumb) question: Where do you get virgin beeswax, other than asking around the bee hive?

Bob

[Alamo]

Just get regular beeswax; I'm fairly sure that the virgin stuff was supposed to be a joke.

Edited March 27, 2013 by Alamo

[lightingale]

I have a secret......... Don't tell any one

It's not really a secret but if you want to know how to make your own search for your favorite product MSDS (material safety data sheet). The MSDS will tell you what's in the product. It may not tell the ratios but with a little experimentation you can nail that down.

My brother and I at 712gear.com make our own resolene, oil based conditioner, and silicone conditioner.

Hope this helps

-Dave

This is a brilliant idea. I checked the sheet for my favourite conditioner (Aussie leather conditioner), although the ingredient list was... not what I expected:

Petrolatum USP 55.0 – 70.0 8009-03-8 > 2000 mg/kg (rat) Not applicable

Natural & synthetic wax blend 10.0 – 15.0 Proprietary None established Not applicable

Aliphatic hydrocarbon 15.0 – 35.0 64742-47-8 5000 mg/kg (rat) Not available

Petrolatum? Isn't that vaseline?

I'd rather not buy pre-made sample tins, as they're still pretty expensive. My profit margin on most of my collars doesn't enable me to send an extra $4-$5 product along. Plus, I like the idea of making a conditioner from scratch. I happen to have beeswax bricks on hand, and it's only $10 for 32oz of neatsfoot oil. I ordered 50x 10ml lip balm containers for about $0.45 apiece, and I figure each sample will cost me roughly $0.55.

I can understand staying away from vegetable oils. I haven't heard of them going rancid on the leather or in the stitches, but better safe than sorry. The beeswax/shea butter/almond oil/vit E oil recipe was attractive to me as a leather balm because it can be used on the skin too, but it doesn't stay fresh for too long. I'd like to stay away from tallow and lard for the same reason.

Right now I'm leaning towards using beeswax and neatsfoot oil in proportions that yield a butter-like consistency (like the aussie conditioner, but maybe a little stiffer). There aren't a lot of other leather conditioner recipes online, but some call for ingredients such as lanolin, glycerin, tea tree oil, mink oil, etc. Any thoughts on those ingredients?

Technically, since only the queen bee and a few select drones actually "get any", all beeswax must be virgin because the worker bees are too busy to bee "getting busy".

Edited March 27, 2013 by lightingale

[Alamo]

Glycerin can be found in any half-decent pharmacy, and is used as a skin protectant and softener. Adding some glycerin to whatever mix you'll be making might be a good idea, it definitely can't hurt to experiment with it. Tea Tree oil is the stuff of legends, it's got some amazing properties when it comes to skin, so I would assume it would also be helpful for leather. Google it and see how much awesome stuff is reported to be linked to tea tree oil! Mink oil is meh; it is reported to expedite stitch rot and is somewhat expensive. Lanolin comes from wool bearing sheep. Google took me to the Wiki page and it might be something to experiment too if you can get it for a price that is cost effective for you.

[particle]

I stumbled across this a while back. I'm going to make some as soon as I get my hands on bulk beeswax. And yes, he didn't cook his very safely - use a double boiler instead.

[Alamo]

The thing with this recipe is that it is more for waterproofing instead of leather conditioning. Turpentine is a solvent, and putting that into your leather may cause it to dry out faster than it normally would.

I've made this before, and it becomes a product very similar to SnoSeal. Excellent for waterproofing but not the best for conditioning leather.

[Cyberthrasher]

For reference, Montana Pitch Blend's Leather Dressing is a mixture of Mink Oil, Beeswax, and Pine Pitch. So you could experiment with the ratios there and see if you can come up with something.

If you're worried about cost of the pre-made samples, remember your time in creating the mixture then filling and labeling all those little sample jars as well. I don't have a price yet on the case of samples for MPB, but a 4 oz jar is about $11 - so $2.75 an ounce without the jar.

[Alamo]

Also, you can always just mark up the price of your product slightly to cover the cost of the premade samples.

If you let your customers know that their item is slightly more expensive because you're adding in a product that will extend the life of their purchase, the majority will still buy your stuff.

[Zooker]

I make a finish for my native american style flutes, from beeswax and walnut oil. I take one part beeswax and five parts walnut oil and microwave it until liquid, stir it until mixed and let it cool into a solid kind of like shoe polish. When I am ready to apply it, I melt it in the microwave and brush it on my piece with a foam brush. I then let it harden/cool and rub it out with a soft cloth. It leaves a very nice finish and walnut oil will not go rancid.

While i was reading this and typing, I made a sample piece from a scrap of pre-cased veg tan and it softened it very little and darkened it quite a bit. I then treated a piece with straight walnut oil and it darkened it quite a bit more and softened it pretty good.

I am not sure of what your color/suppleness level goal is, but these are a couple of options.

and +1 on what Alamo just said.

Good luck,

Ken

Edited March 28, 2013 by Zooker