Painting Over Neatsfoot Oil

[TomBanwell]

I have an old piece of leather that is quite dry. I want to paint it with acrylic paints, but feel it needs some Neatsfoot oil first to restore it. I fear the paint won't adhere once I've oiled it. Can I oil it, leave it for a few weeks and then paint it? Thanks for any help. This is veg tan leather.

Edited May 24, 2013 by Banwell

[WinterBear]

I don't think you'll have any problems, especially if the first coat of acrylic after he oiling is thinned enough that the first layer of paint is just this side of being see-through. The grain will show through the first layer, certainly, but if it is dried well before completing the rest of the painting, it's primarily there to give the other layers a little something to bite-like a "primer". A little neatsfoot well soaked in followed by a thinned first coat of acrylic has worked very well for me, and the veg-tan portions of the pouches with painted designs haven't had any cracking or peeling. One pouch has been hauled around by a pair of kids for over 6 months now. It's battered from being squashed, slung around, sat on, left outside, drug on the ground/sidewalk/gravel/parking lot asphalt, but the paint still holds.

[TomBanwell]

Thanks, WinterBear. How long do you wait after oiling before you paint?

[WinterBear]

The pouch that is being drug around was painted about two weeks after oiling, but that was due to not having time to work on it before that more than anything else. The pieces that get the lightest oiling I paint the next day (24 hours-buckles, barrettes, etc.) with no issues, where a for a bracelet or small pouch, I find 4 or 5 days is usually sufficient. Thicker, heavily tooled, and/or very dry pieces that take up more oil, or pieces that will see a lot of abuse, I will wait 1 or two weeks, just to be safe.

[TomBanwell]

Thanks so much for your information.

[WinterBear]

Anytime. I consider it a case of quid pro quo--you've helped me before. Your helmets sparked an idea on how to tackle a rather sticky repair problem of mine.