zeroflight Report post Posted September 4, 2013 My head is spinning after going through pages & pages of various finishing options and just can't figure out where I need to take this so here goes. I'm making a daypack for myself out of a couple of kinds of leather. The shoulder straps are 4-5oz shoulder (2 layers stitched w/ padding), the bag lining is 2(ish)oz pigskin and the body is roughly 3-4oz wild boar. I only bring up the lining to give you an idea of thickness/stiffness on this thing since it will be a little flexible. I want to leave the boar hide color and texture alone as much as I can but would still like to protect it. I want it to gain character over time so water stains don't bother me but obviously don't want to ruin the thing outright. I've been reading up on mink oil, neatsfoot, resolene and a few others but just don't know what direction to go since most here seem to be dying, tanning, or whatnot. Thoughts, suggestions? How about the shoulder straps? It's pretty much your standard tooling/dying pale hide so I figure I'll end up dying it to at least somewhat match colors but what finishing do you recommend for it? The bag is designed so the straps can be swapped out any time so it doesn't really need to match up with the bag for wear. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Cent Report post Posted September 5, 2013 I believe most spray, dip, or brush on neatsfoot oil. Wipe dry and let it sunbathe for a while. I have used olive oil but it seems to be...well, oily. Ain't never used the others. I assume you want a conditioner. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zeroflight Report post Posted September 5, 2013 I was leaning towards neatsfoot for the boar. Sounds like that's what I'll take. For the straps, I'm thinking screw the dye and stick with the concoction from http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=31680&hl=strap#entry198582 I'm still a few days away from starting the chemicals so I'll still keep an eye out for thoughts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites