Maintaining your leather items
leather.htm-74
© Copyright, 2011, R. Fleischer
When I was much younger I made a lot of leather
items, and even had a small leather business, making big
traveling bags mostly. I learned a thing or two about
leather.
Leather is prepared, treated, and 'tanned' in several types of
processes, and these tend to vary considerably in various places
in the world.
SOME dye processes leave the leather in a state that requires some types of
'conditioners' NOT be used.
Leather dries out and
deteriorates from exposure to the sun, salt on the roads
(especially on motorcyclist's leather clothing), water, and
so on. If leather gets to the cracking point, it is on its last
legs. Be sure to treat leather BEFORE THIS STAGE.
If a real leather product is kept in good condition, it will last forever,
except for normal abrasion or wear at seams. For boots, salt of any
type is BAD news on the junction of sole-to-uppers, and boots need cleaning now
and then, and certainly drying out if they get wet (wet especially here means
INside, if the outside is fully protected....but exterior seams may not dry
fully too. Never dry boots over a
heater!
Some types of leather are very unique. Pigskin; doeskin; buffalo
hide, all have special characteristics. I still have a pair of
buffalo 'jeans' that was made decades ago, it is suede-side out. The
process was, then, back in my early days!... to purchase a brand new pair of Levi's and simply take them
apart, then duplicate them in the buffalo material. Buffalo does not stretch and get out
of shape. My 'Traveling bags' were unique,
under the Christoon name. Some went to Neiman
Marcus for sale to upper crust types, as they were very pricey.
They were of super heavy leather that will last forever if
treated now and then. I
kept some for myself for many years, treating them every 3 years.
I still do the same for my camping moccasins.
My original 'Bates' real leather saddle bags are still in use on
one of my old bikes, in South America, as they are religiously
kept up by the owner. These are from the late fifties.
When you purchase something of leather, best you ask the
manufacturer
(not necessarily the retailer!!) on what product to use in cleaning and
maintaining your leather. The products you use may also
depend somewhat on your usage.
Treat the leather WAY BEFORE it dries out, cracks, and gets
brittle. If starting to get brittle and barely starting to crack, do
the treating in small steps, over some time. Some of the old stand-by
products are shown below, and I will show very different types here, such as:
1. SnoSeal which is basically a soft WAX/silicone compound,
that melts at a bit over
room temperature. Many put it on their boots and leave the boots near a
not-too-hot furnace outlet or in the sun. This product is OK
to use on things like boots that need real waterproofing in severe conditions,
yet you understand that the boots will not be kept forever, or for more than one
resoling. There is some tendency for this product to eat out
some types of sewing over a period of many years.
2. Animal OILS. They can soften leather, discolor
it, and sometimes slowly rot out sewing, etc. The type of thread that is used on your boots and other items
is critical as to what you use to treat the item. If natural thread
(cotton, for example) was used, be very cautious. AND....there is nothing
wrong with glue-bonding of soles, if done correctly.
3. LEXOL. This is the Industry standby product of most boots and
shoe manufacturer's. A mixed compound, good stuff for the average person.
Probably what I would generally recommend for most people. READ
directions.
4. 'Saddle Soap'.....sort of a generic term for a special type of
soap-cleaner-conditioner-wax, depending on who made it. Good for
smooth surface leathers. Note the word CLEANER in my description.
5. Neatsfoot oil, and Neatsfoot Compound. These are very
different things from each other. Neatsfoot oil is not generally to
be used by the UNknowledgeable. It is rather powerful, does work,
and is preferable to SnoSeal, for softer leather items. Do not overuse
this stuff. ... I recommend you do NOT use the straight
Neatsfoot oil that I personally use unless you clean the item and use it very sparingly.
All Neatsfoot items may darken suedes (typical of many products for leather,
actually). I use Neatsfoot oil.... from Fiebings, mine is
100%. Fiebings is in Milwaukee, WI, and probably also still sell the
Neatsfoot COMPOUND, which I recommend for general leather use. Once a year
or three/five; depending on your conditions. Use it sparingly.
For most, just purchasing some Lexol, which is widely available, is probably the best route. I honestly just cannot recommend other products than the ones listed on this page.
Revisions:
06/10/2007: now is article #74
11/27/2007: minor changes
04/15/2010: minor updating
© Copyright, 2011, R. Fleischer