patina Veg Tan Leather Finish (for best patina)

[Turves09]

Hey All, 

I have some 1.2mm thick veg tan leather that i am planning to make some wallets and nbotbook covers from.

I want to keep the natural veg colour and have it darken with age and use in a nice way...however, i have seen some peoples items from veg tan and they seem dirty and grotty....not nice patina at all....

What do i need to do to the leather so that it will patina in a nice way with use...before i pass onto the person....

Cheers

[zuludog]

Well, if you want to keep the natural veg colour, the obvious thing is not to dye it; but you'll still have to treat it in some way

I had a large tub of leather grease that I used on my hiking boots, but now I use synthetic trail shoes I hadn't used it for a couple of years. I spooned it into an old jar and thinned it with white spirits, (which I think is the British term for mineral thinners or turpentine substitute) to the consistency of a soft paste or thick cream

I apply that to both dyed & undyed veg tan leather knife sheaths & soak it in. Let it dry for a couple of days then buff with a soft cloth. I've been doing that for well over a year and had no complaints

It will darken the leather slightly, usually to a sort of dark yellow or mustard colour, then it develops a patina as you use it. When you first apply the grease the leather looks blotchy, and you think you've made a mistake, but it evens out if you leave it

I can't remember what make the grease was, you'll just have to play around with some scrap

[Northmount]

Check out some of the other posts here about using neatsfoot oil and sun tanning.  Search button is near the top right of the page.

Tom

[Turves09]

Thanks guys

[Turves09]

Hi Northmount, 

I did a search and cant seem to find any topics....can you point me in the right direction?

Cheers

Ryan

[Northmount]

1 minute ago, Turves09 said:

Hi Northmount, 

I did a search and cant seem to find any topics....can you point me in the right direction?

Cheers

Ryan

There is a pulldown list next to the box you enter your search in.  Change it to "all content" instead of "this topic".  I got 3084 hits for "neatsfoot oil sun tan".

Or if you like Google searches better, try "site:leatherworker.net NFO neatsfoot oil sun tan" without the quotes.  The "site:leatherworker.net" limits the search to this site.  Is usually faster and better than the site's search function.

Tom

[VabaX]

Are you intending to patina it slightly before sending the product out, or merely finishing/preping it to age and patina for the customer whilst having a robust finish?

I 100% agree with your remarks re many looking downright dirty. TBH the trend of 'patina at all cost' has gone 500% too far. some of those items you see around the place, on insta, etc, look like theyre literally rotting, while the maker proudly professes "fabulous patina after only 4 weeks!!"

well how's it gonna look after 4 years? Like it's been siting at the bottom of a bog that whole time, thats how it'll look. 

I'd recommend a light coat of neatsfoot oil followed with (once it's fully absorbed/dried) 2 light coats of watered down resolene (everyone says 50/50 resolene with water, but i've found that to be far too much water, and almost starts casing the leather. about 70:30 resolene:water is about right in my book) or however many/few are required to get the desired level of gloss/matt finish you're after.

That way, with the oil it will start with a bit of golden tint to it, and will still darken and age with exposure/use WITHOUT contracting a disease like how those totally unfinished products do, and will last many years longer because of it.

Yes, it will age slower, but will be a more genuine aging process. 

 

EDIT: 

after reading your post again, the other replies in this thread talking about just neatsfoot oil; the oil will purely help to give a bit of colour to the leather and perhaps help it tan/bring out more of the tan colour as it does so, and help nourish the leather and prevent it drying out.

Neatsfoot oil is NOT a leather finish, it does NOT seal the leather. If that is the only thing you apply to the leather, it will age like toilet wine and start to look infected as if it lives in a septic tank, with those gross black stains in the corners, etc.

you NEED to apply a proper finish/sealant to the leather to prevent this from happening, or dedicate yourself to regularly cleaning/waxing the item (which you cant, since it's going to a customer). That is what will allow for the nice aging/patina'ing without becoming grotty.

Edited November 13, 2018 by VabaX

[Turves09]

Thanks VabaX. 

Thats what i am after...having the product patina nicely by the customer....and not looking grubby.

Are there any other options....products which can be used? Virgin Olive Oil...Dubbin ???

I am only new at this (hobby) and dont really want to outlay for all of the products etc for only a few items at this stage.

Cheers

[chrisash]

Neats foot oil is very low cost and the standard oil for replacing some of the natural oils taken out by tanning giving a bit more flexibility to the leather, but must be pure neatsfoot oil there is another type compound or something that should not be used, but give it 24-48 hours to dry before you add any other treatment

[ABHandmade]

5 hours ago, Turves09 said:

Are there any other options....products which can be used? Virgin Olive Oil...Dubbin ???

I use refined mink oil. Its only drawback is the faint smell of fish that disappears after a few days.

[VabaX]

23 hours ago, Turves09 said:

Thanks VabaX. 

Thats what i am after...having the product patina nicely by the customer....and not looking grubby.

Are there any other options....products which can be used? Virgin Olive Oil...Dubbin ???

I am only new at this (hobby) and dont really want to outlay for all of the products etc for only a few items at this stage.

Cheers

Neatsfoot oil is very cheap.
There are a few other types of oils, but they're all just as obscure as Neatsfoot is, so you'd still have to buy them specially for this purpose. 
Other oils like olive etc will go rancid, and wont 'cure' or 'settle' into the material properly. same reason as why you dont use those vegetable oils for oiling an axe handle or a tabletop, etc. 
Also, dont use mineral oils either, as that will start to degrade the leather and the stitching.

Just get small bottle of neatsfoot or mink oil (should be easily less than $10). you'll find it at any leather supplies retailer. 

And as I said, a proper finish like resolene ontop to actually seal the leather, to lock in the oils and to block out any other contaminants that will make it go grubby.