An actual Leather Conditioner recipe

[JayEhl]

Hi,  thanks @chuck123wapati    that makes sense.  I wet form, let it dry then add dye and finish?  

[ScottWolf]

Just an update to this thread. I've continued to try different combinations of ingredients using the a fore mentioned ratios. Ingredients such as avocado oil, sunflower oil, Palm oil, etc. I've found that some of the combinations have different affects on the leather, be it the shine, color or suppleness that it produces. So even if you've found a combination of ingredients that works for you, try experimenting with the amounts of a given ingredient to start, and see if it improves the performance of your conditioner. I now have a series of differing conditioners that I use in steps for a given piece of leather and not just one by itself. This has proven helpful in bringing back very dry or poorly cared for pieces in stages.

[CernunnosLeather]

Good evening,
Could someone, please advise me on the ratio of the ingredients in the conditioner? I would like to try making a conditioner with beef tallow, lanolin and beeswax. Does anyone have verified ratios of these ingredients, which really works, please? I would also like to put citronella in there against bacteria and fungi. Lastly, I want to put vitamin E in there against oxidation, I just don't know how many drops of essential oil and vitamin E. I can put in there to have the proper effect. Thank you very much for the answers.
Marek

Edited July 11, 2022 by CernunnosLeather

[ScottWolf]

4 hours ago, CernunnosLeather said:

Good evening,
Could someone, please advise me on the ratio of the ingredients in the conditioner? I would like to try making a conditioner with beef tallow, lanolin and beeswax. Does anyone have verified ratios of these ingredients, which really works, please? I would also like to put citronella in there against bacteria and fungi. Lastly, I want to put vitamin E in there against oxidation, I just don't know how many drops of essential oil and vitamin E. I can put in there to have the proper effect. Thank you very much for the answers.
Marek

From my initial post, here are the general ratios to start with:

Quote

It’s a simple recipe, mix the three ingredients at a ratio of 1:1:2 (beeswax, cocoa butter, and liquid oil) , this ratio gives the balm a slightly softer texture as opposed to being a very solid bar. This is still a balm, though; if you want more of a cream, use a 1:1:3 ratio. If you add the two optional ingredients you are adding more conditioner( lanolin) and a hardener (Carnauba wax) that result in a more solid final product. The ratio with the other two ingredients would be: 1:1:2: .5: .25  You can increase the Lanolin from .5 to 1 if you choose but it does increase the overall cost. If you need a harder product, increase the carnauba wax, as too much beeswax can result in a tacky feel to the product.

There is no way to tell you specifically how many drops of an ingredient or how much vitamin E, etc to put in there. You can put in as much or as little as you want to get the desired end product. The thing you do need to keep in mind is that the more "oils" you add to the recipe, the softer the end product is going to be. So it will go from a solid/balm to a cream unless you increase the ingredients that give it it's firmness, like beeswax.Carnauba,etc, proportionality as you add more ingredients that are oils. So if you increase the number of parts of oils by say 50%, you need to increase the amount of beeswax by at least 50% or more depending on what you want the end product to be (solid/soft/balm) just for starters and see what it produces in a small batch. if it comes out the way you want it, make it in a larger batch, using the newly adjusted ratios. 

[CernunnosLeather]

11 hours ago, ScottWolf said:

Z mého úvodního příspěvku zde jsou obecné poměry pro začátek:

Neexistuje žádný způsob, jak konkrétně říci, kolik kapek složky nebo kolik vitamínu E atd. tam dát. Můžete vložit tolik nebo tak málo, kolik chcete, abyste získali požadovaný konečný produkt. Věc, kterou musíte mít na paměti, je, že čím více „olejů“ do receptu přidáte, tím měkčí bude konečný produkt. Takže to půjde z tuhého/balzámu na krém, pokud nezvýšíte přísady, které mu dodávají pevnost, jako je včelí vosk. Karnauba atd., proporcionalita, když přidáte více přísad, které jsou oleje. Pokud tedy zvýšíte počet dílů olejů řekněme o 50 %, musíte zvýšit množství včelího vosku alespoň o 50 % nebo více v závislosti na tom, jaký chcete mít konečný produkt (tuhý/měkký/balzám) jen pro začátek a uvidíte, co produkuje v malé dávce. pokud to vyjde tak, jak chcete, udělejte to ve větší dávce, 

Thank you so much for your response. I'll test the ratios and let you know. I still need to get some quality tallow, but that won't be a problem. I will try to figure out how much vitamin E and citronella to give to get the right effect and it's not wasted because of the low concentration.
 

[ScottWolf]

10 hours ago, CernunnosLeather said:

Thank you so much for your response. I'll test the ratios and let you know. I still need to get some quality tallow, but that won't be a problem. I will try to figure out how much vitamin E and citronella to give to get the right effect and it's not wasted because of the low concentration.
 

If you do a small test batch in a 2 or 4 oz tin and mix in the ingredients,you will get a visual reference as to how much of either Vitamin E or citronella is intermixed with the other ingredients. You dont need a lot of either for it to be effective when the ratio you are working against is 1 part beeswax. By starting at .5 for each just as a test, which is half of the ratio you are working against, you will get a good idea as to whether it is enough or too much. If it is too much you will end up with a final product that is more like a cream and or so soft that it will never be firm/hard . I think you are over thinking this, as it's not exact, as your ingredients might differ from mine in how they interact with one another and or from batch to batch. This can become more apparent if you decide to add essential oils in it for smell, as 5 drops might be enough in one batch to get the desired smell and when you open a new/different bottle of essential oil, 5 drops may not be enough. To put this in perspective, look at a commercially available products MSDS and you will see a percentage of the ingredients. Very often you will see ingredients like you listed and more, and they will typically say +/- 5 percent, sometime +/- 10% but typically for only one of those ingredients. Meaning very little  of those ingredients is actually used in the make up of that product. In most cases of liquid conditioners its typical to see 50-80% is water, followed by a small percentage of chemical stabilizers/preservatives and or emulsifiers and then lower percentages of the actual conditioning ingredient(s).

[CernunnosLeather]

13 hours ago, ScottWolf said:

If you do a small test batch in a 2 or 4 oz tin and mix in the ingredients,you will get a visual reference as to how much of either Vitamin E or citronella is intermixed with the other ingredients. You dont need a lot of either for it to be effective when the ratio you are working against is 1 part beeswax. By starting at .5 for each just as a test, which is half of the ratio you are working against, you will get a good idea as to whether it is enough or too much. If it is too much you will end up with a final product that is more like a cream and or so soft that it will never be firm/hard . I think you are over thinking this, as it's not exact, as your ingredients might differ from mine in how they interact with one another and or from batch to batch. This can become more apparent if you decide to add essential oils in it for smell, as 5 drops might be enough in one batch to get the desired smell and when you open a new/different bottle of essential oil, 5 drops may not be enough. To put this in perspective, look at a commercially available products MSDS and you will see a percentage of the ingredients. Very often you will see ingredients like you listed and more, and they will typically say +/- 5 percent, sometime +/- 10% but typically for only one of those ingredients. Meaning very little  of those ingredients is actually used in the make up of that product. In most cases of liquid conditioners its typical to see 50-80% is water, followed by a small percentage of chemical stabilizers/preservatives and or emulsifiers and then lower percentages of the actual conditioning ingredient(s).

Thank you and I'll take your advice. The raw materials should come next week. Then I'll write how it turned out.

[suzelle]

Scott,

Thanks for the recipes and all the ideas here, can't wait to experiment!

[Adouthit]

This is a great post. I've been making a simple balm with beeswax, olive oil and sometimes coconut oil. It works but I don't like how dark my saddles get. I've been playing around with variations and looking at different msds for ideas. Mineral Oil seems to keep the leather lighter but how about tallow? I see that balm manufacturers seem to use water in thier recipes. Any thoughts on that?

[ScottWolf]

12 hours ago, Adouthit said:

This is a great post. I've been making a simple balm with beeswax, olive oil and sometimes coconut oil. It works but I don't like how dark my saddles get. I've been playing around with variations and looking at different msds for ideas. Mineral Oil seems to keep the leather lighter but how about tallow? I see that balm manufacturers seem to use water in thier recipes. Any thoughts on that?

Glad to hear this post helped you out. Olive and coconut oil will darken leather significantly. Its great for old dark colored pieces, as it brings it back nicely. But if you put it on a beige/camel or veg tan piece of leather, it darkens it a lot. If you use the ingredients I listed in the recipe post, you'll find that it doesnt darken the piece too much. Any conditioner will initially darken a piece but after its absorbed in the color usually lightens up.

Tallow is great for dry pieces or to just to keep a soft supple piece going. The batch I made using tallow has become my go to tin for general conditioning. The batch I made with mineral oil in it is more of a finishing product, as the mineral oil adds a bit of sheen and makes the leather pop.

I only see water being used in liquid and or lotion types of conditioner, such as Lexol as an example. 80% is water, 5-10% is neatsfoot oil and the rest is emulsifiers,preservatives and or stabilizers. If you want a semi solid balm, there is no need to add water, as then you'd need to add an emulsifier to keep the water and your oils from separating.