sealing Sealing Leather

[Onify]

Hello! I have never done anything with leather before, however a friend got me a very nice leather guitar strap for a graduation present. They had written a little message on the inside of the leather strap and I don't want the message to wear out. It looks like it's been drawn on with sharpie, I think. I've been looking and what I think I need to do is seal the leather. Looking for some help with that

[johnv474]

A common suggestion would be to use a product called Resolene, which is a clear acrylic sealer.  However, if you do, be sure to dilute it 50:50 with water because it comes pretty concentrated and so full-strength can look too glossy and plasticky.  The diluted version gives a satin type sheen I'd say.

If you can I'd test it on a scrap of leather that has Sharpie on it. The test would be to see if it smeared the Sharpie.  I don't think it would, but better to check!  It would depend on what type of ink a Sharpie has.

[fredk]

Resolene will make the sharpie ink run and blur. Diluting the Resolene with water will make it even worse.

In this case I would simply coat over the writing with bee's wax; rubbing it into the leather with a bit of linen or denim. But I'm not 100% sure that even this will not affect the writing

[cjartist]

I would try a spray on acrylic sealer available at craft stores, or even Walmart.  If you apply a thin coat, you could then go over that with a natural conditioner like a neatsfoot oil and beeswax mixture, or even resolene once it is set with the spray on.