whimsicaldragon Report post Posted July 22, 2015 Greetings everybody, I have lurked on this forom for quite a while now trying to find information regarding this question that I have. I apologize in advance if it is somewhere on this forum and I was unable to find it. I am curious on several things actually. First, how do people prepare the leather for tooling even before casing? Do you put any conditioner on it like saddle soap to keep it pliable and in good condition? Do you clean the surface with anything? soap? rubbing alcohol? To remove any surface contaminants? Any other kinds of preparation before casing? Praying over it? Rubbing a rabbit's foot on it? Now I'm just being silly but, really,... I would like to hear anything that people do that seems to help protect the leather and improve the tool-ability of it. Second, What do you do after the finish is on? How do you suggest customers care for their tooled leather product? saddle soap? leather conditioner? A clean cloth? I am sure it depends on the finish but information about caring for the different finishes would be very helpful to me as well. Links to other forum posts I may have missed are totally fair. This forum is huge and I cannot read everything in it. Thank you very much for you time, folks. Lena Erickson https://www.facebook.com/aegisleather Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Blea Report post Posted July 22, 2015 Welcome to the forum Lena! For your first question, I don't do anything to my leather prior to casing except to keep it out of the light as much as possible. Veg tan will darken in direct sunlight but even indoor lighting will 'tan' it over time. After casing and tooling I will then sometimes clean it with a weak Oxalic acid solution if there is something on it. Many people do this step automatically on every project to remove any oils or dirt their hands have transferred to the leather but I haven't had it be much of a problem in my work space, so I don't do it every time. The first time some sort of finger print ruins my antique I will probably make cleaning a standard step! For your second question, I don't have a good answer. I know some of the members of this forum do provide recommendation to the long term care of their products but it does probably depend on the finish and what the item is used for. Hope this helps a little, Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Colt W Knight Report post Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) I dunk my leather in water and give it a rinse. Then I clean it with saddle soap. Then I let it sit out for while for the casing process. On some projects, I use a glass slicker to kinda prestretch and give the leather a smoother appearence. The rinsing and cleaning seem to be more important when I use cheaper leather like the stuff I get at Tandy because it seems to be pretty nasty. Edited July 22, 2015 by Colt W Knight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whimsicaldragon Report post Posted July 25, 2015 ok, Thanks for replying, gentleman. Any other responses would be appreciated! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
