Need Help With Flesh Side Of Leather Strap.

[veedub3]

OK I have a customer that I sold a market tote to a few months ago. The bag was not taken care of in that time. Wow she beat this bag up. She is paying to have the straps replaced as her new pup chewed through one of the straps. Now the straps look like she dragged them behind a truck to me. Here is a pic. The strap on the left is a new one from the same hide I made the old one from. I put gumtrag on the flesh side of the old one but can't figure out why it looks so nappy. I only put on one coat, should I have put on more than one coat? Is there anything else I can use to keep the nap lying down?

Thanks for the help

Karina

[r lenna]

Check this out http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=18101

[veedub3]

  On 1/8/2014 at 3:44 PM, r lenna said:

Check this out http://leatherworker...showtopic=18101

Thanks for replying but I am not talking about the edges. I am referring to the flesh side of the strap.

More Info:

This is what I did to the old strap: I wet with water and burnished with a glass slicker. When that dried, I put one coat of gumtrag on it and let that dry. should I have done anything else to the strap to keep the flesh lying down? Again not talking about the edges. I started with a rather smooth back side to begin with so didn't think it would look like this after just a few months of use.

Karina

[Cyberthrasher]

I would switch out the gum trag for an actual finish product and use a couple coats.

[veedub3]

  On 1/8/2014 at 4:35 PM, Cyberthrasher said:

I would switch out the gum trag for an actual finish product and use a couple coats.

Thanks Cyber, I will try that. The folks over at Tandy & Springfield told me this is what gumtrag was for but I have several other finishes on hand I can try.

Thanks again.

Karina

[Cyberthrasher]

It's what it's "intended" for, but it's really for sitting in a bottle on the shelf never to be used anywhere.

It's a glue

it's abbrasive

it blocks dye from absorbing

it wears off, and as you see leaves a mess.

[veedub3]

  On 1/8/2014 at 4:53 PM, Cyberthrasher said:

It's what it's "intended" for, but it's really for sitting in a bottle on the shelf never to be used anywhere.

It's a glue

it's abbrasive

it blocks dye from absorbing

it wears off, and as you see leaves a mess.

Ha.ha.ha. I hear ya!

[JLSleather]

That's a fuzzy sucker, true

I check, personally, that the back of the hide doesn't look like this (it shouldn't). But, if you have a piece already, then possibly the most reliabe (and maybe the quickest) way to solve the issue is to line the strap, stitch the edge. A piece of 2/3 or 3/4 on the back will look nice, add some substance to the strap without making it stiff, allow her to throw some oil at it (or saddle soap, or etc ...) easily.

Still won't help with the pup. Maybe sell her a new collar that matches the bag?

[El Zipster]

Fiebings Tan Kote works well on the flesh side.

Cheers

Zip

[veedub3]

  On 1/8/2014 at 5:02 PM, JLSleather said:

That's a fuzzy sucker, true

I check, personally, that the back of the hide doesn't look like this (it shouldn't). But, if you have a piece already, then possibly the most reliabe (and maybe the quickest) way to solve the issue is to line the strap, stitch the edge. A piece of 2/3 or 3/4 on the back will look nice, add some substance to the strap without making it stiff, allow her to throw some oil at it (or saddle soap, or etc ...) easily.

Still won't help with the pup. Maybe sell her a new collar that matches the bag?

If the flesh side is nappy, I will run the piece through the splitter to clean it up, but the back side of the strap was pretty smooth to begin with before I burnished then gumtrag'd it. I would have never thought it would have turned into what you see in that photo. But now I know to leave that gumtrag alone.The new piece is from the same hide, it is 6oz veg tan. I thought of adding a lining (I have some 2oz kip from Waterhouse Leather) but I don't have a piece in the shop long enough to cover two 30" straps and I told her I would get it back to her today, so I had to toss that idea out.

Yep, it won't help with the pup, maybe keep the bag out reach?

  On 1/8/2014 at 5:26 PM, El Zipster said:

Fiebings Tan Kote works well on the flesh side.

Cheers

Zip

That is exactly what I used on the new strap!

[humperdingle]

I rub some Aussie Leather Conditioner into the flesh side If I want it 'less fluffy'. Seems to work ok.

[r lenna]

The back can be burnished also. it's cut leather just like the edges. then you can use what ever kind of finish you want.

[veedub3]

  On 1/8/2014 at 8:45 PM, r lenna said:

The back can be burnished also. it's cut leather just like the edges. then you can use what ever kind of finish you want.

I am aware of that and I did state that the strap was burnished first with water and a glass slicker then a coat of gumtrag. More reading and research on this forum as well as other forums tells me that the gumtrag was the culprit. I am following Cybertrasher's advice and leaving the gumtrag on the shelf never to be opened again.

For now, a simple burnish followed by tan kote seems to do the job. I have a few other finishes I tried on scrap just to see which one I like best, but going forward, I am laying off the gumtrag.

Karina

[Ember]

Just thinking out loud, but if it was me, I would try drawing a blade across the leather to knock off the stragglers, or skive, and then re-burnish as per what you originally did.

[veedub3]

  On 1/9/2014 at 5:33 AM, Ember said:

Just thinking out loud, but if it was me, I would try drawing a blade across the leather to knock off the stragglers, or skive, and then re-burnish as per what you originally did.

I have a leather splitter and if a piece is not smooth as I would like, I always run it through the splitter to clean it up. I can't remember if I did that to the original strap but I definitely did it to the replacement strap.