Finishing bridle leather

[Spyros]

I made some laptop bags recently, some are made with American-English bridle (Wicket & Craig) and the others with English-English bridle (Sedgwick).

Everything I read about those leathers seems to indicate that they're full of waxes and everything they need, so no finishing is necessary.

However, I've kept one of the Sedgwick bags for myself, and I noticed that when it gets even the slightest rain droplets on it, it kind of bubbles where the water touched it.  I always make sure to wipe it with a clean cloth, and the bubbling eventually goes away on its own, but I can't help thinking that this can't be good for the leather long term and maybe I should be putting something on for protection.

The W&C ones I also haven't not put anything on so far, just a light coat of leather conditioner (mix of beeswax/lanolin/oil) on the flesh side just to feed the leather a little bit because when I received it it felt dry like cardboard.  I did however notice that my glue doesn't adhere almost at all on this leather, which means it must be full of waxes/oils already.

Anything I should be putting on, just for some extra protection?  I tried some carnauba cream on an W&C offcut, it darkened it a little which I don't mind, but I'm hesitant to put it on the actual bag because W&C specifically says don't apply finishing, surely they must have a reason for saying it.

Edited December 13, 2021 by Spyros

[jcuk]

I have been using Sedgwick bridle leather for years never had that happen i use it for horse tack which will be used in all weathers, before i send any work out i give it a clean and wipe down with some leather conditioners. There was a post on here a few years ago of someone who made a leather brief case out of Sedgwick leather he had the same thing happen to him he posted some pics with the problem tried to find it with no success.

[TomE]

I’m using Hermann Oak bridle leather for tack. I finish with a light coat of Aussie conditioner applied with my fingers, let it absorb overnight, and buff with a soft cloth. I’ve seen the bubbling when casing leather for wet forming straps around hardware. It disappears once the leather is uniformly wet or dry. 

[seasidesunflower]

I would personally stick to Hermann Oak bridle leather. I have not been impressed with the leather from Wickett & Craig (probably in the minority though), and can't speak on Sedgewick's quality. Bridle leather shouldn't need an extra finish though, outside of maybe a nice water repellant conditioner - If anything, I might reach out directly to the company and get some answers.

Edited December 13, 2021 by seasidesunflower
misspelling

[Spyros]

6 hours ago, jcuk said:

I have been using Sedgwick bridle leather for years never had that happen i use it for horse tack which will be used in all weathers, before i send any work out i give it a clean and wipe down with some leather conditioners. There was a post on here a few years ago of someone who made a leather brief case out of Sedgwick leather he had the same thing happen to him he posted some pics with the problem tried to find it with no success.

Not sure it is a problem as such, maybe that's what the leather is supposed to do when wet... Like I said it's perfectly fine once completely dry.  Not sure.  Maybe I'll just give it some conditioner and leave it as is, it is my everyday carry bag so I'll get to observe it long term.

[Spyros]

10 hours ago, seasidesunflower said:

I would personally stick to Hermann Oak bridle leather. I have not been impressed with the leather from Wickett & Craig (probably in the minority though), and can't speak on Sedgewick's quality. Bridle leather shouldn't need an extra finish though, outside of maybe a nice water repellant conditioner - If anything, I might reach out directly to the company and get some answers.

I haven't tried H/O bridle yet, I will in the future.   But I absolutely loved W&C bridle.  The sides I received had extremely high yield, even the belly was perfectly usable, they had next to no marks, and the flesh side was so nicely finished and smooth that it was literally reflecting light.  Very nice stuff. 

Most of those things apply to Sedgwick bridle as well, but I found it to be quite fragile in some ways... I mean it's obviously very strong leather, but it seems to have something like a film on the surface, and if you're not careful with it and you buff it a bit too hard (say you got a drop of glue or edge paint on it and you're trying to get it off), you can break that film and then it's damaged beyond repair.  I don't know, maybe it's something I haven't understood about working with it,  but I think I'm sticking with W&C for now.

[jcuk]

On 12/13/2021 at 9:20 PM, Spyros said:

Not sure it is a problem as such, maybe that's what the leather is supposed to do when wet... Like I said it's perfectly fine once completely dry.  Not sure.  Maybe I'll just give it some conditioner and leave it as is, it is my everyday carry bag so I'll get to observe it long term.

I seem to remember for short time there were two kinds of Sedgwick bridle leather one was called traditional tanned bridle leather the other was was called modern tanned bridle leather just to make sure i was not going senile i checked with one of my suppliers and they confirmed this, they no longer do the modern bridle leather, not sure which you may have but there maybe some of the modern bridle leather might still be around in places. I know Tandy use to stock it but not now. 

Hope this helps

JCUK

[Alexis1234]

I've been putting Resolene on W & C bridle leather( almost every leather, actually). I made a bridle leather bag a couple years ago that I use on a daily basis- still looking great.