Treating leather saddlebags

[gutzi]

Greetings all
Just got a new to me Cali SS and has leather MG bags.  Given the torrential downpours and hot sun in Florida, any good suggestions to treat these?  Or are they good as is? 

Thanks

[Spuddy]

I can't vouch for the bags but I can for leather treatments.  After trying all kinds of stuff for decades here a Spuddy's four recommendations: Lexol leather cleaner then Lexol treatment/conditioner.  Aqua Seal for waterproofing and  If you are trying to maintain some stiffness or shape try Fiebings Aussie treatment.

I'm sure you have opened a can of thread with this request.

Spud

[jcctx]

I have had good luck with the spray on furniture polishes. Brand not important; i get the ones with lemon/orange oil in them. Used on a V-Star 1300 tour which had a rep of the leather shrinking and splitting the seams. No issue for the seven years I owned it. Looked as good as new when sold.

[Lannis]

Greetings all
Just got a new to me Cali SS and has leather MG bags.  Given the torrential downpours and hot sun in Florida, any good suggestions to treat these?  Or are they good as is? 

Thanks

Of course, the ideal would be if someone had several sets of leather MG bags that were used under the same conditions, and they used different products on each, and found that one was far better than the others.

But since it's unlikely you'll get that level of experience, you'll have to sort through what has worked in similar situations on hopefully similar leather products.

So far you've heard Lexol cleaner, Lexol conditioner, Aqua Seal waterproofing, Fiebings Aussie treatment, and spray on furniture polish.   

To those I will add my favorite, which is Sno-Seal leather treatment.   It comes in a wax form - you warm the leather you want to treat in the sun or other way, and rub in the Sno-Seal until it disappears.    I use it on boots, seats, and jackets, and it works well ....

Lannis

[segesta]

I love the products sold by Schott NYC, they have some leather care stuff available on their website. I would trust them, given the quality (and cost!) of their jackets.

[tpeever]

I really like Montana Pitch Blend

[Yukonica]

To those I will add my favorite, which is Sno-Seal leather treatment.   It comes in a wax form - you warm the leather you want to treat in the sun or other way, and rub in the Sno-Seal until it disappears.    I use it on boots, seats, and jackets, and it works well ....
Lannis
[/quote]

I concur. Snoseal is bee's wax formula that seals, protects, and lasts.
I've recently used it to seal the suede on a V7racer seat I bought last year.
~ Suede looked great until the became moist.
Snoseal does re-melt and percolate to the surface when the sun is very hot which is a distinct disadvantage on a seat: unless you are like me and only ride in leathers.

[oldbike54]

 Stiff Aussies ? Have you ever met one ? Really , olive oil thoroughly worked in works about as well as anything , and it smells good .

  Dusty

[canuguzzi]

An old girlfriend used to use some of that Nivea stuff. Oh, sorry, thought you meant bags under the eyes.

Klasse makes some good stuff. Doesn't make leather gooey. Have to send an email to that ol gal, might help her too.

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Oil squeezed from the feet of small animals called neats is very good to nourish the leather and waterproof it.
 Neats feet are placed in a vice and the oil squeezed from them.  The are then released to limp away and grow more oil in their feet
 for the next harvesting.  Another good oil is obtained by boiling mink after removing their nice fur coats for the womens' clothing market.
 The mink do not go along with these procedures voluntarily.  But then neither do the neats.

[ITSec]

Lannis and Yukonica have hit on my favorite. I started using SnoSeal when I was involved in snowshoe racing back in the 70s. We didn't use any of the pooftah modern nonsense gear, we had leather mukluks and snowshoes made with wood and lacquered leather, using lampwick for harnesses. (This is all true, but I won't claim we walked to school and it was uphill both ways!)

Those mukluks would be comfortable and dry, showing hardly any wear, with a 25-50 mile hike each week for 12 weeks. SnoSeal was all we used. Work it in, let it dry, and work it in again. After you've got the stuff thoroughly into the leather, it should only need a touch-up from time to time, depending on your conditions. It handles heat as well as it does snow, and while there's little that can make any leather with seams truly waterproof, this should hold up to your Florida thunderstorm season.

[Yukonica]

 

  Oil squeezed from the feet of small animals called neats is very good to nourish the leather and waterproof it.
 Neats feet are placed in a vice and the oil squeezed from them.  The are then released to limp away and grow more oil in their feet
 for the next harvesting.  Another good oil is obtained by boiling mink after removing their nice fur coats for the womens' clothing market.
 The mink do not go along with these procedures voluntarily.  But then neither do the neats.

 

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Those mukluks would be way to warm to use where I live but the snow shoes could be used to play tennis.

[kingoffleece]

Furniture polish has a lot of silicone in it.  You'd be hard pressed to find a leather manufacture that would recommend any type of silicone product for their leather.
SnoSeal is a time tested product that works.  We have a lot of experience with it here in Buffalo.

Precards also is a well tested product as is Pitch Blend.

A good waterproof cover is another option.

[Gliderjohn]

Skidmore is another good beeswax based cream. Also works best if the leather is warmed.
GliderJohn

[Waltr]

  Oil squeezed from the feet of small animals called neats is very good to nourish the leather and waterproof it.
 Neats feet are placed in a vice and the oil squeezed from them.  The are then released to limp away and grow more oil in their feet
 for the next harvesting.  Another good oil is obtained by boiling mink after removing their nice fur coats for the womens' clothing market.
 The mink do not go along with these procedures voluntarily.  But then neither do the neats.

   Ouch!

[Lannis]

  Oil squeezed from the feet of small animals called neats is very good to nourish the leather and waterproof it.
 

Just in case any animal lovers don't have their dictionary handy, "neat" is the old word for "cow", and yes, they do render "neat's-foot oil" out of cow's feet.

They wait until they're dead, though, so that's some comfort.   For us AND the cow ....

Lannis

[Lannis]

Lannis and Yukonica have hit on my favorite. I started using SnoSeal when I was involved in snowshoe racing back in the 70s. We didn't use any of the pooftah modern nonsense gear, we had leather mukluks and snowshoes made with wood and lacquered leather, using lampwick for harnesses. (This is all true, but I won't claim we walked to school and it was uphill both ways!)

Those mukluks would be comfortable and dry, showing hardly any wear, with a 25-50 mile hike each week for 12 weeks. SnoSeal was all we used. Work it in, let it dry, and work it in again. After you've got the stuff thoroughly into the leather, it should only need a touch-up from time to time, depending on your conditions. It handles heat as well as it does snow, and while there's little that can make any leather with seams truly waterproof, this should hold up to your Florida thunderstorm season.

Yes, and just to emphasize the "work it in and work it in again", untreated leather will absorb a surprising amount of SnoSeal or any other leather treatment, so have a whole jar ready.    Once done, though, it just needs a little rub occasionally ....

Lannis

[Sasquatch Jim]

Just in case any animal lovers don't have their dictionary handy, "neat" is the old word for "cow", and yes, they do render "neat's-foot oil" out of cow's feet.

They wait until they're dead, though, so that's some comfort.   For us AND the cow ....

Lannis

 You sure know how to kill a good story.

[Lannis]

You sure know how to kill a good story.

If it had been a good story, I wouldn't have said anything ...     

[oldbike54]

Lannis and Yukonica have hit on my favorite. I started using SnoSeal when I was involved in snowshoe racing back in the 70s. We didn't use any of the pooftah modern nonsense gear, we had leather mukluks and snowshoes made with wood and lacquered leather, using lampwick for harnesses. (This is all true, but I won't claim we walked to school and it was uphill both ways!)

Those mukluks would be comfortable and dry, showing hardly any wear, with a 25-50 mile hike each week for 12 weeks. SnoSeal was all we used. Work it in, let it dry, and work it in again. After you've got the stuff thoroughly into the leather, it should only need a touch-up from time to time, depending on your conditions. It handles heat as well as it does snow, and while there's little that can make any leather with seams truly waterproof, this should hold up to your Florida thunderstorm season.

 "Snowshoe racing" Really ?! Geez , does this sport require a calendar for timing purposes 

  Dusty

[daninwalkercounty]

We had a couple of guys in the 10th at Devens who did the snowshoe racing.

[ITSec]

 "Snowshoe racing" Really ?! Geez , does this sport require a calendar for timing purposes 

  Dusty

The calendar can be one of those 'one-day' types. We could cover 50 miles in about 14 hours. Racing pace was between 3.5 and 4.5 mph unless the snow was powdery and deep. If racing with wooden snowshoes, the Iroquois or 'points' design was preferred for speed; bearpaw designs are best for loose snow, but don't allow the fast, loping pace that wins. I was a small, skinny high-school kid then, maybe 5'6" and less than 110 lbs, but my snowshoes were 48" or 54" long.

They looked similar to this: