Natural Leather Finishes

[CraftyNick]

Hey all!  I'm new to this board, and new to leather crafting as well.  I have done some looking around on the web, and also on this board to find answers to this question but haven't found any that answered it specifically, or at least not in the way I am looking for, so I thought I'd ask.  What I have learned as a standard procedure is that when making a tooled wallet, belt, dog collar, or other type of leather craft, one should carve, dye and/or antique, then apply a top finish to seal in the dye and provide moisture protection.  While shopping at Tandy the only top finishes I could find that were said to be protective and water resistant were resin or acrylic based finishes, as is the popular Tan Kote.  However, I have an inclination to the natural, and the traditional, and I doubt that the cowboys of old had saddles and belts coated in plastic finishes.  So my question is, what natural materials have traditionally been used prior to the introduction of synthetic products like Tan Kote or Super Sheen that serve the same purpose?  I am guessing that traditionally leather workers used some type of oils or waxes.  Does anyone have any specific knowledge about this?  Any products that are available or formulas that can be used?  Just to be clear, when doing my own research I did come up with some natural leather oil products and such, but these were suggested as conditioners that should be periodically re-applied.  Conversely, I am looking for a product that would be used when the item is originally crafted as an alternative to Tan Kote, and other synthetic leather top finishes.  

Thanks a lot for any info!

~Nick

Edited June 1, 2016 by CraftyNick

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[CraftyNick]

Thanks for the interesting video.  Have you ever tried these materials on leather, or do you know if beeswax, linseed oil or terpentine have traditionally been used in leather crafting?

Edited June 2, 2016 by CraftyNick

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Historically, no idea, but I've tried the recipe from the first video and like it for outdoor use. Has a pretty strong smell though, and takes a lot of heat to work into the leather.

I've also tried 1 part beeswax mixed with 4 parts almond oil. That's nice, with almost no odor of any kind. I touch up my wallet with that.

I also tried a mixture of beeswax, cocoa butter, almond oil and castor oil. Smells nice, good on dry skin in the winter, melts into leather with minimal heat.

[klaykrusher]

Here is one too, go to about the 32 minute mark if you don't want to watch the whole thing.  He uses coconut oil and beeswax.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mZ0UOdCwps

His vid on taking a 3 year old sheath he made with this finish, dunking in water and restoring it also shows how he makes the mixture.  Pretty simple of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlqYJ2NMBQw

[Martyn]

I've just renovated an old army backpack, this...

to this...

The leather simply had 2 generous coats of olive oil and a couple of coats of my homebrew leather wax 2 parts neatsfoot oil to one part beeswax. Rubbed in and a heat gun applied lightly to encourage absorption.

The canvas portion was cleaned with sodium carbonate solution and when dry, re-waxed with the aforementioned mixture of boiled linseed oil, turpentine and beeswax in a 1:1:1 ratio. It does take at least a week to dry and I would NOT use it on leather. The reason is because it's quite acidic. Linseed oil is heavy in linoleic acid which drops the pH quite a bit. This would leave the coated product quite acid, too much for comfort with leather I think. In my case, the wash with sodium carbonate crystals made the fabric quite alkaline, so after the waxing, it should be pretty well buffered. The other thing is that linseed oil is a drying oil, it doesn't evaporate, but it polymerises into a solid on contact with air. It would make the leather go hard and lose suppleness. For water-proofing I would make your own blend of neatsfoot oil (or possibly mink oil) and beeswax in 1:1 or 2:1 ratio. Alternatively, use a commercial product like snoseal or even natural shoe polish.

[CraftyNick]

Thanks to each who replied for your suggestions.  I am assuming that beeswax with some type of oil is good, though as mentioned above linseed oil might not be best, and I would be slightly concerned about almond. coconut or olive oil going rancid, perhaps neatsfoot or mink oil is best. 

Martyn, are you re-conditioning your pack with the same solutions as those with which it was made?  One thing to note is that I am looking for something to put on new items right after dying, not just something to keep leather conditioned with, but perhaps the same solution would work for both, I'm guessing.  

Another thing to consider is whether these solutions would change the color of leather, I'm thinking yes, for most of them, which would be fine for a lot of things like leather equipment, for more delicate crafts, however, discoloration might not be desirable.

[Art]

Montana Pitchblend Paste.

Art

[Martyn]

3 hours ago, CraftyNick said:

Martyn, are you re-conditioning your pack with the same solutions as those with which it was made?  One thing to note is that I am looking for something to put on new items right after dying, not just something to keep leather conditioned with, but perhaps the same solution would work for both, I'm guessing.  

I doubt my treatment was original. The leatherwork on the pack is date stamped 1949 and to my knowledge they just used a kind of red/brown coloured shoe polish. In the first pic you can see patches of it on the leather. When I washed the pack, the soda crystals dissolved this residue and it soaked into the wet leather, darkening it significantly. So most of the darkening you see in my pic was because of that, rather than the treatment.

The reason I used olive oil, was because it doesn't darken leather as much as neatsfoot and I didn't want to darken it further. Neatsfoot can go rancid too. It shouldn't be a problem though, both are used regularly on leather.

The linseed/beeswax I used on the canvas is probably non-original too. The canvas is something called Swiss salt and pepper canvas and is a blend of flax and nettle fibres. Flax is another name for linen and I figured linseed oil and linen would be harmonious, being from the same plant. It's possible they would have just treated the canvas with oil alone back in the day. Linseed oil does dry on it's own eventually - it was used to make oilskins and oilcloth. But without turpentine added to accelerate the drying, it takes months to cure. I doubt they would have used the particular blend I used though. I honestly dont know, though these packs were used in the Swiss Alps and it tends to snow rather than rain, so they may not have been too concerned with waterproofing. It's just leather and canvas at the end of the day though.

I think I'd be tempted to try Art's suggestion of Montanna Pitchblend. The combination of resin, mink oil and beeswax sounds very promising. I'm sure it will darken the leather to some extent though.

[spectre6000]

I just posted an update in my chemistry thread. It's dense, but I was essentially after the same thing when I started the project. Current iteration (not detailed in the thread, but maybe later) is natural, organic (where possible), plant derived (gluten free, Atkins friendly, kosher, and halal, lol), and looks/feels amazing. Linseed oil is addressed specifically, and has played a starring role in some of my more recent leather treatment fiddlings (hint: I disagree with Martyn on chemical and historical grounds).

Edited June 6, 2016 by spectre6000