Otzi Report post Posted May 27, 2020 (edited) I have been working on a leather conditioner recipe for near to 8 months now and I am getting fairly close to having it ready for people to try out. I have a limited number of free samples I can send, the main purpose of these is to get your feedback on the product. If you take a sample please do follow up with me after you have used it and let me know what you think. I will post the recipe so you can see what is in it (tentative and may change some) but I will not post the ratios as that has taken a large investment of time and money to get right. The Recipe - Birch Tar Oil: I distill this from Birch bark in my area, I have agreements with forestry and logging in the area that allows me to harvest bark from their blocks and lots. Some of you may be familiar with it from Russia leather. Increases leathers wear resistance, durability, repels water, highly resistant to saltwater damage, repels insects, worms, and bugs, highly resistant to mold, fungus, and bacteria, strong antiseptic properties. Imparts a strong unique smoky smell that lasts for years, it does fade. - d-Limonene (Citrus Terpenes): A natural solvent, it is volatile and evaporates from the leather after 1-2 days. It does not damage the leather or dry it while it is present in my testing. Makes for easier application and also cleans the leather. PH of d-Limonene is 3.5. - Antioxidants: This is a mix of natural antioxidants and used to increase birch tar oils oxidative stability. I believe Birch tar oil already has good oxidative stability and have sent a sample to a lab who to start will test for Iodine value so I know for sure. - A little beeswax is also added to the mix. This mixture does not go rancid and in testing looks to be more stable then animal based products such as minks oil or neatsfoot. The only unknown is the Birch tar oil as far as iv and PH, things I will know very soon! This recipe is easy to apply, penetrates deep and smells awesome (at least I think so). It does darken the leather (will have pics soon). If you want to give this a try please reply here stating so and I will add you to the list, please note you pay shipping. It will ship from Canada. It will be a month+ before I ship any samples, getting samples to the lab for testing is ridiculous slow right now. I will also have tanning oil available which is simply the stabilized Birch tar oil. Edited May 27, 2020 by Otzi Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billybopp Report post Posted May 27, 2020 I'd be up for giving a try! Thank you! - Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Otzi Report post Posted June 5, 2020 On 5/27/2020 at 7:29 AM, billybopp said: I'd be up for giving a try! Thank you! - Bill Added you to my list, thanks for the interest! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Otzi Report post Posted September 17, 2020 @billybopp Samples are now available, there is a $1 charge I had to put in place to prevent abuse. https://birchees.ca/products/birchees-leather-care-sample-pack Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Retswerb Report post Posted September 18, 2020 How much are you charging for shipping to the US? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Otzi Report post Posted September 20, 2020 @Retswerb It is calculated on checkout but average looks to be $9 - $10 (CAD). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
