Using Neatsfoot As A Highlighter

[victorl]

Hi everyone, I see a lot of threads with people struggling to highlight their tooling with antique dyes, so I thought I'd share a technique I've been using that is easy and foolproof. I'm sure it's nothing new or anything, but maybe it can be of some help to someone.

Basically what I do is use neatsfoot oil the same way as a highlighter, applying it liberally and evenly over the entire piece. The key is to quickly wipe the excess oil off the surface with a cloth or paper towel, which will make the surface lighter than the highlighted areas when it dries.

Pros:
Fast, easy and foolproof
Gives a clean, natural-looking highlight

No messy antiques or resists needed

Cons:

Doesn't give as much contrast as proper antique dyes

Too much oiling can lead to oversaturation, especially with thinner leather.

Edited December 3, 2015 by victorl

[victorl]

Just wanted to add a couple things:

-You need to work fairly quickly to wipe the excess oil off before it has a chance to fully soak into the surface

-Like with antiques, make sure that the oil gets into all the crevices so everything is properly highlighted

If you find places where the tooling isn't well-highlighted, you can quickly oil and wipe to highlight it.

-After it dries, you can go over the piece again to get a darker look and better highlighting. (Sunlight has a similar effect as well)

[Halitech]

great tip

another trick is coat it with something like snow proof, leave it thick in the crevices then go over it with a hair dryer. I found this out by accident