Old Horse Tack Leather

[bartug1]

I have an opportunity to buy some old Horse Tack - leather.  It is very dirty and appears to have been thrown into a big wood box and left for many years.  It's very hard to tell what all is there.  I can see that a bit of it appears to be dry and cracked... dried out.

My question is, can this be cleaned up and repurposed or does it sound to far gone?

Thanks,  Barry

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

When leather becomes cracked, it is over, you can't "un-crack" it. I certainly wouldn't pay anything for it.  It depends on what's all in that box, it's possible the cracked leather was that way when it was thrown in the box and there are good items as well. But even leather that has been dried out but is not cracked comes to a point of no return.  There is a point where no matter how much oil or conditioner you apply, it is just too late.  However, I've seen some pretty bad stuff come back, and I've also been fooled by leather I thought would be fine, and didn't make it. That leather was likely junk from the get-go. Only experience will tell you.

[bartug1]

OK... Thank you so much for your reply.  I think this is beyond help then!

 

Thanks!

[cowboycolonel]

Maybe you could get the guy to pay you to take it.  This happened to me about ten years ago and I got some interesting stuff out of it, including a saddle that I "restored".  By that I mean that I got the opportunity tore-make about all of the uppers. If you want a project, take it on, but don't pay for it and don't expect too much.