chrome tann / crust chrome finish

[Lexy]

Hello : ) im from Georgia Tbilisi so sorry about my English <3
 Im new here and also in leatherwork,  3 month for now  learning and working with chrometann leather.. and im doing well BUT!
i need help now ... i cant find with what to finish chrome tan leather... some ppl said to use saphire creme or iexi .. Can some1 explain about top coats / finishers for chromed leather please?  
 

[Rahere]

The idea is it shouldn't need much finishing. As a result, there's not that much you can do with it either. OK, I'm being a bit harsh, but you get my outlook. It's more chemical than leather, so you're left with simple choices: how to finish edges, and maintain the surfaces. Polishes in effect, depends what you have locally.

[Retswerb]

Welcome to the forum @Lexy! As Rahere said already, most chrome-tanned leathers don’t need much in the way of top coat. What sorts of projects are you working on? Maybe post a pic or two of the leather you have available to you there and folks here can give some more advice.

[Lexy]

im working on bags.. (learning). here in  georgia as they said we have only chromed leather.. i dont know if it has english word but as they call it is "Crust leather"

[Lexy]

photos..

[Lexy]

On 3/2/2021 at 1:44 AM, Rahere said:

The idea is it shouldn't need much finishing. As a result, there's not that much you can do with it either. OK, I'm being a bit harsh, but you get my outlook. It's more chemical than leather, so you're left with simple choices: how to finish edges, and maintain the surfaces. Polishes in effect, depends what you have locally.

its okay   we don't have any other leather here.. i cant buy veg tann for now.. its too expensive for me. till I'm learning I'm okay with it. so i think polishes is the answer.. can you recommend me please any? some ppl told me to use Saphir creme, but there are too many saphir cremes.. which one to buy

[Rahere]

You'll have to experiment, looking at various furniture and floor waxes and sprays. Start with what works in your household.

https://www.go4worldbusiness.com/suppliers/georgia/tbilisi/leather-products.html

[Lexy]

2 hours ago, Rahere said:

You'll have to experiment, looking at various furniture and floor waxes and sprays. Start with what works in your household.

https://www.go4worldbusiness.com/suppliers/georgia/tbilisi/leather-products.html

Georgia tbilisi doesnt have any good leather care products... 
what about saphir and uniters? i want to try 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Lexy

[Rahere]

4 hours ago, Lexy said:

Georgia tbilisi doesnt have any good leather care products... 
what about saphir and uniters? i want to try 

Possibly excessive. You'd be suprised at what goes into wax for wooden floors, and the sprays used for general furniture. But you have to start somewhere.

One thing that puzzles me, though, is that that leather doesn't look like chrome. I did a search for what you have, as you saw from the link, the products on the Avenue Moscow shop may well be, but that looks more like pull-up, a rather expensive veg tan, or latigo, a hybrid tan. What happens when you dampen the surface? Does it go darker for a while?

[Matt S]

 

9 hours ago, Rahere said:

One thing that puzzles me, though, is that that leather doesn't look like chrome. I did a search for what you have, as you saw from the link, the products on the Avenue Moscow shop may well be, but that looks more like pull-up, a rather expensive veg tan, or latigo, a hybrid tan. What happens when you dampen the surface? Does it go darker for a while?

That blue-grey core on the cut edge looks like chrome-tan to me. Veg tannages tend to be a pinky beige in the core, unless they're struck through.

@Lexy That's a good looking bag! May I ask how you finished the edges?

Chrome tanned leathers (and a lot of veg tanned ones) are essentially pre-finished from the tannery. A little quality leather dressing applied periodically will keep it in good condition. If you can't find any commercial ones, try melting together beef or lamb tallow, beeswax and neetsfoot (calve's foot) oil in a 3:1:1: ratio. If you can't get neetsfoot oil most cooking/vegetable oils like sunflower or olive will work. Avoid anything petroleum based.

This is a traditional mixture for hard-working leather gear, but it does smell. You can add a little bit of scented oil to improve the smell. A lot of people recommend beeswax and oil in a 1:1 ratio but I find that far too oily.

[Lexy]

10 hours ago, Rahere said:

Possibly excessive. You'd be suprised at what goes into wax for wooden floors, and the sprays used for general furniture. But you have to start somewhere.

One thing that puzzles me, though, is that that leather doesn't look like chrome. I did a search for what you have, as you saw from the link, the products on the Avenue Moscow shop may well be, but that looks more like pull-up, a rather expensive veg tan, or latigo, a hybrid tan. What happens when you dampen the surface? Does it go darker for a while?

yes it goes darken for a while

[Lexy]

38 minutes ago, Matt S said:

@Lexy That's a good looking bag! May I ask how you finished the edges?

thx this is my 3rd attempt of making bag . i used fiebings edge kote and sand paper 4 times with S,paper 280 edge kote, S.paper 600.. and same process with 1200 and 2000. but it cracks in a few days.. im gonna try now vernis or uniters edge paint now..

38 minutes ago, Matt S said:

Chrome tanned leathers (and a lot of veg tanned ones) are essentially pre-finished from the tannery. A little quality leather dressing applied periodically will keep it in good condition. If you can't find any commercial ones, try melting together beef or lamb tallow, beeswax and neetsfoot (calve's foot) oil in a 3:1:1: ratio. If you can't get neetsfoot oil most cooking/vegetable oils like sunflower or olive will work. Avoid anything petroleum based.

This is a traditional mixture for hard-working leather gear, but it does smell. You can add a little bit of scented oil to improve the smell. A lot of people recommend beeswax and oil in a 1:1 ratio but I find that far too oily.

well im learning : )) im im scared to not mess up something.. so i want to buy already tested and good care/protection creme or something.. i can buy from amazon or from rmleathersupply .. i bought Saphir delicate and uniters cream gonna test them but im not sure how they will do the job

[Lexy]

51 minutes ago, Matt S said:

If you can't find any commercial ones, try melting together beef or lamb tallow, beeswax and neetsfoot

too many on amazon.. i just cant decide which is best to buy or test giardani has. uniters also. fenice. saphir and many others but i cant trust my self :D for now.. would be great if some more experienced will recomend me some <3

[mike02130]

12 hours ago, Rahere said:

Georgia tbilisi doesnt have any good leather care products... 
what about saphir and uniters? i want to try 

I use (neutral) Saphir Medaille D'or and Uniters leather protection cream.  The Saphir gives a slightly better shine than the Uniters.  For flat items like wallets I use the Saphir paste.  Handbags I use the Uniters.  The only reason I use Uniters on the bags is that it easier to apply and buff a larger 3-dimensional object such as a bag.  A final buff with a horse hair brush really brings out the shine.

 

[Lexy]

56 minutes ago, mike02130 said:

I use (neutral) Saphir Medaille D'or and Uniters leather protection cream.  The Saphir gives a slightly better shine than the Uniters.  For flat items like wallets I use the Saphir paste.  Handbags I use the Uniters.  The only reason I use Uniters on the bags is that it easier to apply and buff a larger 3-dimensional object such as a bag.  A final buff with a horse hair brush really brings out the shine.

 

Tank you! thats all what i needed <3 thx!

[mike02130]

By the way,  Uniters edge paint is much much better than Fieblings.

[Lexy]

51 minutes ago, mike02130 said:

By the way,  Uniters edge paint is much much better than Fieblings.

i wanted to test / buy Vernis edge paint. price is same as uniters.. so ill buy uniters thx :))

[Rahere]

5 hours ago, Lexy said:

yes it goes darken for a while

This and the fact it's taking edgekote argues it's not chrome leather, though, whatever it is.  Chrome doesn't allow water to soak in. Try tooling it, this may be a translation issue. Could it be a mixed-blend latigo?

[Matt S]

4 hours ago, Rahere said:

This and the fact it's taking edgekote argues it's not chrome leather, though, whatever it is.  Chrome doesn't allow water to soak in. Try tooling it, this may be a translation issue. Could it be a mixed-blend latigo?

Sorry chap, going to have to disagree quite strongly with you there. Nothing inherent about chrome tanned leather that prevents water from soaking in, nor from taking edge kote. It's still a nonwoven mesh of fibres. A kitchen sponge, a piece of felt and a scotchbrite pad will all absorb water and take edge kote, doesn't make them veg tanned leather. A better test is: if you wet it then bend it, does the piece of leather /hold/ a shape after it dries?

[Lexy]

5 hours ago, Matt S said:

Sorry chap, going to have to disagree quite strongly with you there. Nothing inherent about chrome tanned leather that prevents water from soaking in, nor from taking edge kote. It's still a nonwoven mesh of fibres. A kitchen sponge, a piece of felt and a scotchbrite pad will all absorb water and take edge kote, doesn't make them veg tanned leather. A better test is: if you wet it then bend it, does the piece of leather /hold/ a shape after it dries?

ill do it and post a pic. but i doubt it will hold the shape will post pic later

[Lexy]

12 hours ago, Matt S said:

Sorry chap, going to have to disagree quite strongly with you there. Nothing inherent about chrome tanned leather that prevents water from soaking in, nor from taking edge kote. It's still a nonwoven mesh of fibres. A kitchen sponge, a piece of felt and a scotchbrite pad will all absorb water and take edge kote, doesn't make them veg tanned leather. A better test is: if you wet it then bend it, does the piece of leather /hold/ a shape after it dries?

after wet and bend it holds shape 

[Matt S]

On 3/3/2021 at 4:40 AM, Lexy said:

 

14 minutes ago, Lexy said:

after wet and bend it holds shape 

Okay that's interesting, you've probably go a veg tan or combination tan leather there. Do the edges slick/burnish? (Quick test: lick about a cm length of edge with your tongue and rub the wide, smooth part of your thumbnail along it vigorously for a minute.)

I had been going by this photo, where the inner core of the leather appear blue-grey on my monitor:

[Lexy]

it doesnt burnish :D im gonna call this leather frankenstein

[Rahere]

8 hours ago, Lexy said:

it doesnt burnish :D im gonna call this leather frankenstein

Take it a step further. We'r

Take it a step further. Does it take an impression? If you've got a leather punch, try that, if not, try the head of a screw. Damp it first, then let it rest a minute, and press the head into it before letting it dry. If it holds the inpression, it's certainly not chrome.