After Applying 50/50 Resolene, My Leather Is Very Stiff

[cudofcow]

I'm making a hand full of belts for friends and after doing all the necessary punching, stamping, and trimming, I then dye the piece with fiebings oil dye. Then gum trag the edges and chip brush on a 50/50 coat of fiebings resolene.

I'm noticing that before the resolene my belts are very soft and leathery but after the resolene, they get incredibly stiff. When i bend them even a little, they get this rippled effect which doesnt really look that nice.

What am I doing wrong here? Should i use neatsfoot or something?

[TwinOaks]

It sounds like you're putting on too thick of a layer. Resolene works best if applied by damp sponge or sprayed. Either way, it should be several very light coats, with drying time between them. One or two coats, with possibly a 3rd IF the item will see a lot of exposure to the elements. This pic is of my leatherman sheath that has been worn almost daily for close to 8 years. Yes, it has some dings and scratches, but the majority of the time I've used it has been climbing in and out of ceilings, and knocking it around on the inside of a fiberglass bucket on my work truck. That's a sprayed on resolene finish (two coats, sprayed with an airbrush), and once it 'cured' to the point of not being tacky, NOTHING has bothered the finish or the leather. It's seen summers on the South coast, lots of rain, and more very cold days than I would have liked to spend in the bucket. After all this time, water occasionally gets through the finish....but not much.

ETA: I have NOT refinished, nor redyed it. The only thing needed was a repair to the belt loop. Once.

[NVLeatherWorx]

You asked the critical question: should I use neatsfoot or something? The answer is yes, you should always replenish the oils that are removed during the handling/stamping/carving & tooling process; just don't apply too much. Give your leather a light coating, let it set overnight, do it again the next day, let it set again overnight. If you continue to have the issue with your 50/50 blend then you may want to switch over to Clear-Lac as it remains flexible and gives a very good seal as well.

[TwinOaks]

I recall one of the folks on here giving the following advice about applying oil to the leather: Stop putting oil on the leather about 3 coats before you think it has enough. Meaning, that once you apply the conditioner, it needs to have time to spread through the leather and be evenly distributed. Applying too much will leave the leather too soft (at best) or so saturated that the oil leeches out onto anything the leather touches (at worst).