Waterproofing

[FFLeather]

Hey y'all.. New to the forum but I wanted to see what some other people are using/doing to waterproof leather. I have a method that works pretty well, but I'd like to change it up a bit. Thanks for any input!

[Ski]

Resoline? Although I hate the stuff. I also have some Chelsea leather food which is quite good.

[Bob Blea]

Hello FFleather, welcome to the forum!

I use a product called Wyosheen (available from Sheridan Leather Outfitters) as a resist for my antiqing, and it will block water. It's the modern version of NeatLac that Tandy used to sell, and it's also available as ClearLac (at least I think it's the same product). I test that I have a good coating by running a damp sponge over my project to make sure the water doesn't penetrate the Wyosheen. If it doesn't I'm ready to antique. I'm just using a thin layer in my work and I don't know how waterproof it would really be. It might not work well in a situation with a lot of wear or heat.

I know that most of the people on here that make motorcycle gear use resolene for their items, so it might be better choice for high wear items. I don't have any experience with it though.

Bob

[Cyberthrasher]

Resolene is a good choice for water/UV resistance, but the Lac products should work well too. Yes, Clear-Lac is the EXACT same product as Neat-Lac made by the exact same company. Neatlac was just specifically branded for Tandy so they could overprice it without people knowing the difference (my theory).

Keep in mind that NOTHING will ever be water PROOF - we can only get higher levels of water resistance.

[JakeDiebolt]

I make a mix of beeswax and olive oil as a finish. If I use enough of it, the water just beads up on it. Can't put my hands on the exact recipe right now, unfortunately.

[Frank]

Someone posted this before. I made a double batch and it's really good stuff.