Leather care?

[jbell]

Lexol.

 :1:

What oil should I use in my weather app? 

   

Why snake, of course.

[twowings]

I have a 30+ year-old Hein Gericke leather jacket that is treated yearly with mink oil and a day of hanging in the warm sun to let the oil soak in and it still looks great! YMMV

[aschem]

Obenauf's Heavy Duty LP made here in Idaho (I think) Uses beeswax. They also make excellent beeswax boot oil with all natural ingredients. http://www.obenaufs.com/

[Doppelgaenger]

Lexol is a good product.

Fiebing's 4 way leather care is a bit better though. I have a vintage leather jacket that gets the treatment every 6 months regardless of use.

[Rotten Ralph]

Skidmores or mink oil.

[Toecutter]

I'm just pulling your leg, however... I have two pairs of boots, one I've treated well, with all my leather conditioners and goodness, and another I've just left. Guess which pair is cracked, torn, worn and generally useless?

Leather is pricey, taking good care of it is cheap. I work with leather as a hobby, so I have the stuff available, but honestly, it's cheap, considering the initial investment.

[Red Dog]

6oz of olive oil with 2 to 3oz bees wax gently heated on the stove. 

Stir, stir, stir until the bees wax is totally absorbed.

Take off the heat and keep stirring until it is a thick gel then spoon into a jar & let cool.

Warm the leathers with a hair dryer & rub it in.  Wear 'em for a week or more then repeat, may take three cycles to waterproof.

I also mix in Essential oils of Eucalyptus citratus, Tea Tree & Lavender & use this mainly on the boots.  Keeps ticks & crawlies away when hiking.

[RANDM]

I also mix in Essential oils of Eucalyptus citratus, Tea Tree & Lavender & use this mainly on the boots.  Keeps ticks & crawlies away when hiking.

Good one - hadn't thought of the bug repellant angle.

Maurie.

[ILM Rosso]

Thru the years (44+ years riding) I've had good performance from the following leather treatments:   (YMMV) (IMHO)
-Biwell - Good conditioner and waterproofer (sometimes tough to find) warm in with hair dryer and let sit overnight
-Sno-Seal - must be melted into leather to disappear (does NOT weaken stitching as previously alleged)
-Stubben Hamanol - found at equestrian supply vendors (somewhat odiferous at first) but gives an amazing finish to hides. A first class conditioner (used for spendy saddles and tack).
The Vanson product buffs to a shine nicely.
Nothing beats pull on Totes (spray interior with silicone spray to ease on and off) for your boots.
Ride Safe (and dry)
Mark

[Fuzzy]

 :1: Obenauf's, just discovered it. Also, Bear Grease kept my baseball glove in beautiful condition for over 30 years.

[NCAmother]

Obenauf's Heavy Duty LP made here in Idaho (I think) Uses beeswax. They also make excellent beeswax boot oil with all natural ingredients. http://www.obenaufs.com/

Obenauf's LP +2   If it's good enough for firefighter boots, it's good enough for my seat.

[Idontwantapickle]

Lexol. My jacket is over 25 years old now.

http://www.amazon.com/Lexol-Leather-Conditioner-8-OZ/dp/B00B6EKIPG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1465097629&sr=8-4&keywords=lexol

[john fish]

Thanks, gents.  Some excellent advice here.  My old standby is Lexol.  However, I hope to stop by the local tack shop and see what they have to say, too.

I read the reviews on Amazon about the Obenaufs and some folks say that it's great for boots but leaves a residual 'grease' that may be too much for jackets.

Also, regarding this sort of thing, I tend to follow Sasquatch's advice, so neatsfoot may be in my future.  Jim is a very experienced outdoorsman and somewhat. . . big, so I hate to defy him.   

John

[charlie b]

I learned about leather restoration from the guys at the Smithsonian (we were working for a local museum at the time).  Pecard's.  It cleans and restores.  You can take an old leather item that is dried up and hardened.  Apply that stuff and it will become like new.

Caution, it cleans very well.  As in, anything that touches the leather for a while will pick up all the dirt, even from the 'inside'.

Haven't used anything else since picking up a tub of it.  One pint has lasted me for almost 20 years, taking care of chairs, boots, jackets, briefcases, holsters, etc, etc.

[john fish]

Pecards makes a lotion for motorcycle leather:

http://www.amazon.com/PECARD-Pecard-Motorcycle-Leather-Lotion/dp/B01FRIZTSM/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1465255032&sr=8-11&keywords=Pecards

hmmmmm. . .

[charlie b]

I didn't realize they had so many different products now.  The one I have is the 'antique' dressing.  I was skeptical until we treated a WWII leather rifle scabbard.  It had been folded in thirds and put in an uninsulated attic in southern NM.  It was stiff as a board.  That was when we called the guys at the Smithsonian to see if they could restore it.  They also suggested the 'easy' way to apply it.  Just smear it on the leather until it won't absorb anymore.  Then take a hair blow dryer to it.  The leather acts liks a sponge and soaks it right up.  They said it never takes more than two treatments that way.

Started with one treatment.  Got a little softer.  Second treatment and we could straighten it out without any cracking.  Got it shaped by putting a rifle in there (my M1 Garand).  Straps were nice and flexible and the scabbard looked like it had just come off the jeep.

The second treatment you can look at the other side of the leather and see the oils working through the leather.  It also 'floats' out the dirt so wiping the inside with a paper towel is a good idea.

[pressureangle]

Fiebing's makes great products.

-let the jacket dry.

-brush it with a stiff-ish brush to get the easy to remove stuff off it.

-clean it (follow direction) with the Fiebing's Saddle Soap

-let dry

-use Fiebing's "Aussie Leather Conditioner" on it (follow directions)

If it's a nice, hot sunny day... apply the conditioner, and let the jacket hang in the sun for a while. The heat will help the conditioner to penetrate. Then wipe it off and buff it a bit. DON'T use artificial heat sources on your leather.

+1.

I use Murphy's oil soap to clean, then air dry. Once dry, apply Mink oil, set out in the sun until it soaks in. Apply more thusly until it starts to stay wet looking in places. Once that last coat soaks in,  you'll be nearly waterproof and you won't be oily inside either.

[atavar]

My experience is that pretty much any of the leather conditioners work well, but avoid any that include silicone as one of the ingredients.  It seems that once you use silicone the leather is addicted to it and you will have to use it frequently to keep the leather supple. 
My personal preference is for good old fashioned Neet's foot oil without silicone.  The two downsides are that your dog may want to eat it and of course you have to take responsibility for all the poor crippled Neet's. 
If I use any of the paste conditioners I like to set the jacket out in hot sun for a couple of hours prior to wiping it off and buffing.

[aschem]

With Obenauf's just use a little on the jacket; don't slab it on. Let it absorb and then use terry cloth to remove any excess.

[wahoo650]

Ditto on Lexol.  Easy to apply, reasonable price (last bottle I purchased off Amazon Prime), and works extremely well at softening and preserving the leather.