Harness Leather Heat Damage

[wyomingcowboy]

I made some saddle bags out of some 9/11 oz Hermann Oak russet harness leather that turned out pretty well. I had them in the pickup this July in high 90's temps (out of direct sunlight). When I took them out to show them off they distressed a little where the leather "flexed" or what have you. The color changed and has not returned. I recently oiled them with straight neatsfoot all over. I did this twice and didn't spare much oil. The leather soaked it all up nice but the original colors (heat damaged and all) have returned to be exactly what it was before the oil. I have tried buffing with some artificial sheepskin but the color doesn't appear to be changing at all. Have you any ideas as to what I can do?

I like the bags but can't really afford to keep them for myself and I don't want to sell them as is.

Ideas?

TIA

Edited September 21, 2013 by wyomingcowboy

[wyomingcowboy]

Anyone?

[dirtclod]

Pictures ?

[wyomingcowboy]

I have to find a way to convert them. I wish this site would allow larger file sizes.....

[dirtclod]

Your computer should have a picture program where you can resize them or you can look online for a program to resize them.

[wyomingcowboy]

Here are a few pics. You can see the harness leather turned almost sunfaded but it never saw sunlight. It was in the back seat of a windowshaded truck that got very hot inside. The color didn't change until I pulled it out to show off and the movement made it change. I have since oiled and tried to buff a little bit but nothing has changed.

[wyomingcowboy]

[Northmount]

It seems that UV light darkens leather, yet leather that is behind glass seems to fade. So it must be just the heat (infrared energy) that causes the fading to occur. Whether you can use open sunlight (UV rays) to darken the leather again, is questionable. You could repeat this as an experiment on the same type of leather before you decide to try it with your saddle bags.

As an option, you could try oxalic acid to see if you can bleach the leather all to the same colour, then try dyeing it. Again, try on some scrap of the same leather first to see the results. When you re-dye, you'll have to dye the thread at the same time. So no white thread accent.

Last resort, dye them a darker colour, dark brown or black. Dark brown might be able to cover the differences you see now. With an air brush, you might be able to compensate for the lighter and darker areas of the leather. You could dip dye.

Hope something here helps and works for you. But you will have to experiment a little to see what the best route will be, especially concerning the time it could take to fix up the saddle bags.

Tom