Leather Conditioner Recipe?

[pupweb]

Here's what I found from Fiebing’s Aussie Leather Conditioner MSDS. I have never made Aussie Leather Conditioner but I'll do my best to translate it for you.

BTW SECTION 2 in any MSDS is were they have to list what the stuff is made of. Notice Fiebings is holding their cards close with the Natural & Synthetic wax blend .

From their MSDS

SECTION 2 – COMPOSITION / INFORMATION ON INGREDIENTS

Hazardous ingredients (Specific) % CAS#

Petrolatum USP 55-70% 8009-03-8

Natural & synthetic wax blend 10.0 – 15.0% Proprietary

Aliphatic hydrocarbon 15.0 – 35.0% 64742-47-8

Dave's translation for your test batch. Work in small amounts for your test batch and scale up when you have the correct ratios.

Hazardous ingredients (Specific) % amount in grams What is it and were can I get it

Petrolatum USP 70% 175 Petroleum Jelly procured at any drug store

Natural & synthetic wax blend 10% 25 Dave's Secret Wax (See below)This is the most complicated part and probably the most important

Aliphatic hydrocarbon 20% 50 this is Mineral Spirits maybe sold as White Spirits(UK and EU) found at Hardware stores.

Dave's Wax

This stuff or something similar to this is used in a lot of leather products.

P.S. Don't tell my brother Cam I gave our secret away but we've learned a lot from this forum so it's something we can give back.

!! FIRE HAZARD - MAKE THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK !!

I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU MAKE THIS OUTSIDE USING A CAMP STOVE.

MATERIALS

• 100 grams. of Carnauba wax
  
• 100 grams. of virgin bees wax
  
• 1 quart of Mineral Spirits
  
• 10 oz of boiled linseed oil
  
• 4 oz Castor oil
  
• Wooden Spoon
  
• Pot and stainless steel mixing to make a double boiler
  

Gather your materials. When choosing your cooking pot and bowl, pick sizes that will work together well as a double boiler. The pot you use for the wax mix will have to be dedicated to the wax, in other words I wouldn't use it for anything else.

Create a double boiler by putting the cooking pot on the stove and adding several inches of water. Place the mixing bowl over the top of the pot to ensure that it's the right size. The right size bowl will be larger in diameter than the opening on the pot, allowing it to sit on top of the pot and be heated from underneath by the steam from the boiling water. When your double boiler is ready, remove the bowl and bring the water to a boil.

!! DANGER:: Mineral spirits is flammable, keep away from the heat source !!

While the water is coming to a boil, combine 10 oz of mineral spirits, 10 oz boiled linseed and 4 oz castor oil in a container and set the mixture aside for later.

Put the bowl over the cooking pot of boiling water. Add the beeswax to the bowl and allow them to melt down, stirring them occasionally with a wooden spoon. When the beeswax is completely melted, add the Carnauba wax. When the Carnauba wax is melted, mix with the beeswax and remove the bowl from the heat using pot holders and set it on an insulated pad. Turn off your heat source and allow the wax to cool for about a minute or so.

Carefully and slowly pour the mineral oil and linseed oil mixture into the bowl of cooling beeswax creating and emulsion. Stir the mixture together thoroughly with a wooden spoon. As the wax emulsion cools add mineral oil to mix the emulsion until the rest of the quart is added.

Pour the evenly blended mixture into a large, airtight container. An unused metal gallon paint bucket found at hardware stores works well. You have made enough to last awhile so store unused wax in a cool, dry place with the lid on tight

Let me know how it turns out.

Edited March 28, 2013 by pupweb

[pupweb]

Virgin Beeswax - This beeswax is white in color and is collected from hives shortly after bees lay down the wax. This wax has never seen baby bees so it doesn't have pollen and other debris bees bring to the wax that make it yellow.

[humperdingle]

This Carnauba wax... I have a bottle of Greased Lightning Showroom Shine car wax stuff... If left overnight, there is a clear yellow liquid that settles on top. Would this be the wax?

If so, I might siphon some off to use in a conditioner!

[pupweb]

Humperdingle,

The carnauba car wax isn't pure carnauba. Pure carnauba is a very hard wax.

[humperdingle]

Humperdingle,

The carnauba car wax isn't pure carnauba. Pure carnauba is a very hard wax.

Aah... Thanks Could have been messy :D

[Colt Hammerless]

OP, I noticed you mentioned peanut oil in your brainstorming. With so many people allergic to peanuts, you may want to forego that one. Maybe I'm being overly paranoid, but maybe not.

Paul

[JJarrett]

• 10 oz of boiled linseed oil

Boiled linseed oil has chemical dryers in it (not what I'd want in a conditioner) and lead (not what I'd want against my skin or my pet's skin.) I have both boiled linseed oil and plain at home: plain for food-grade polishes and boiled for furniture. Boiled linseed oil is quite the concoction so don't think you can just replace boiled with regular.

I hear beeswax and linseed make an awesome "boot rub" leather conditioner. I just bought some beeswax and have spend an hour failing to find a recipe ;-)

[Chain]

35% Beeswax

5% Carnuba Wax

60% neatsfoot oil or virgin (to match the bees wax maybe) olive oil

May need to adjust the wax/oil ratio to get the desired consistency.

Carnuba wax available here: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/350521416091?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Olive oil won't go rancid and was used by the Romans on leather a 1000 years ago. Samples of Roman leather have been found and are in great condition. A lot of the old time leather workers use it.

The Carnuba wax is the hardest known natural wax so will add some protection as well as shine (shines better than bees wax)

[unicornleather]

I get asked on UK horse forums how to make and care for veg tanned saddlery leather.

Firstly a bit about oiling and veg tanned leather.

NEATSFOOT OIL, is a popular choice to condition modern hides BUT although modern neatsfoot oil is still made from cattle-based products, it has a tendency to speed oxidation of the leather.

If mineral oil or other petroleum-based material is added, the product may be called "neatsfoot oil compound".

Some brands have also been shown to be adulterated with rapeseed oil, soya oil, and other oils.

The addition of mineral oils may lead to more rapid decay of non-synthetic stitching or speed breakdown of the leather itself

AVOID!

You won't always see the damage to the fibres of the hide with the naked eyes and think it's ok to use it but you get down to the cellular level and look at the fibres under a microscope of hide oiled with neatsfoot and you'll see what I mean.

LEATHER CONDITIONER:

All veg tanned leather will lose moisture whether it's used or not, best thing to condition leather to make it last is any product without any silicone or preservatives (that some modern leather conditioners contain) includes, tallow, bees wax and lanolin or all 3 if possible.

I make my own leather conditioner simply because I use so much veg tan in my trade, I have hides that I have hand dressed that are at least 25 years old when I first trained and are as good as new.

Home made leather conditioner (traditional) recipe:

My own recipe is a secret one I have perfected over many years but what I will give you a basic one, get hold of any beef fat (I make my own tallow but you can use beef dripping), beeswax and some lard (pig fat, again I make my own), do roughly a 50% beef fat, 25 % beeswax and 25% lard,gently melt it down on a low heat and mix it thoroughly.

Let it set, when you use it if it has melted because the weather is warm, shove it in the fridge for 10-20 mins to get the right consistency.

This is real old fashioned English Saddler's grease

BEST WAY OF USING IT:

Remember any moisture you add to leather whether water or leather conditioner can darken leather down, so if in doubt try a test area first.

When conditioning the clean leather, wipe it with a warm wet cloth (just warm water) and whilst still wet/damp get some conditioner on your fingers, the heat from your hand and your fingers are by far the best way to apply any conditioner, it's a mucky job but forget sponges, cloths or brushes at this stage!

By putting the water on first it acts as a medium that aids the penetration of the fats right into the fibres of the hide.

The flesh side of the hide is far more porous than the grain side,try to imagine a funnel shape to the fibre with the wide open mouth end as the flesh side (flesh side is the underside where the flesh used to be) so allow a little more conditioner that side, you don't need alot anyway as it goes a long way.

Rub it all over and massage it into the hide, then leave it to dry naturally in a dry room and not in any sunlight or near artifcial heat,it can take 3 days or more to dry out and be asorbed into the hide, depends how much you use!

When it's dry, then get a lint free cloth, I use old bath towels cut up, the bobbly bits of the towelling act like a polishing stone and this is where it gets hard work, you need alot of elbow grease.

It's basically good old fashioned saddlers grease which most saddlers, leatherworkers and cobblers would have made years ago and none of the commercially made rubbish you get today.

The idea is to rub the hide fast and fairly hard, not too hard to scratch it, the friction heats up any fats you have left on the hide (the white stuff) and gets it further into the fibres to add to the already asorbed conditioner that you put on it a few days before.

Lastly, this where it looks like I am contradicting myself about saying not to use oil on hides but I do, I use cod liver oil (NEVER neatsfoot as explained at the beginning)and wring a cotton cloth out in the cod liver oil so almost dry and put a very LIGHT film on both sides of the hide,wipe off any surplus and give it another gentle polish to buff it up with a bit of clean, dry bath towel, you are merely giving it a final dressing with the cod liver oil NOT conditioning or feeding it, it also gives the hide back it's leathery smell, a good trick of the trade to know if you sell second hand saddlery or leather, people love the smell of leather!

When completed you should have hide that is fairly stuffed full of fat and wax which is what it was designed for and it will have a nice bloom/shine to it, it should feel slightly moist/clammy but not sticky, if it is sticky you need to rub it more, it should feel heavier too.The conditioning will act as a rain barrier to keep the wet out.

Sorry for long post but I think it's worth mentioning all this.

Happy polishing!

[Grizz1]

where's a good place to purchase the bee's wax ?