Leather sporran and Atom Wax

[CypherMagnum]

Hello all! I'm an amateur leatherworker with a few projects under my belt, but not a great amount of experience.  I'm in the process of making a Highland Daywear Sporran, to be worn with a tartan wool kilt. I'm planning on dying the leather with Fiebing's Pro Oil (black), and then finishing it with Leather Balm and Atom Wax. While I have some experience with the application and properties of Atom Wax itself, I have no experience with its long-term suitability for a piece that will be subject to repeated rubbing against a heavy wool fabric. If any of you have experience with Scottish traditional costume, you know that traditional high-end kilts are quite expensive; If any of the wax, or powers forbid the dye beneath it, were to transfer to the kilt fabric, it would require expensive cleaning at best, and be irrevocably ruined at worst. It is with this in mind that I ask the following question.

Is Atom Wax suitable for the finishing of a sporran? If not, any suggestions for a natural-looking finish that will protect not only the leather, but the fabric against it?

Thanks very much for your experience and advice.

-Caleb

(Attached, an example of the type of sporran I'm building, for those unfamiliar)

[johnnystock]

Like you I'm only an amateur but I would probably use a pre-finished leather instead of dying it myself for a project like that. I would think a decent English bridle would be perfect for that and you wouldn't need to worry about dye transfer. 

[TheCyberwolfe]

That Leather Balm isn't a finish on it's own, but more of a polish that you apply to the finish. Think of it more as a Kiwi shoe polish in that you apply it, wear or use the item for a while untill it gets a little bedraggled, and then you polish it up again. What you want is a sealer.

I would recommend Acrylic Resolene or something in that same category, and then you can apply the Leather Balm on top of that, and then buff it out to a nice shine. The Resolene will seal the dye on the leather and (hopefully) prevent transfer to the wool.

I would recommend testing it first - dye some scrap, finish it, and then get a scrap of wool and rub the two together as hard as you can to see just how long it takes to wear through the Resolene. If it takes more than two hours of hard rubbing, then you're in the clear