about leather

[frenchman]

the leather that i buy is stiff a bit like cardboard should it be better on some parts of the bag to soften them up a bit before sewing. For example the belt or just leave time soft them up. Every so often i will tend to them, last night every bag had a good rub of bear oil or mink depending what's on hand. Some are coming very nicely but this is on a long period of time. I was thinking of rubbing on a piece of 2 x 4 to break the stiffness of the leather .
P.S this morning i have some of the smoothest hand ever.

[Shreckmeister]

Chew it like the old eskimos

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Pure Neats Foot Oil is what you want for dressing your stiff leather.  It will darken the colour, and make the leather very supple.

[frenchman]

wmmmm  ::)wasn't the women that did the chewing Better not go there would like to survive one more day

[Artificer]

OK, I am not one of the two “E. F. Hutton’s of leatherworking” on this forum (Chuck Burrows and James Rogers are), but here is what I’ve found from my experience.

When you bend leather over a 2 x4 or when you bend it back and forth while dry to soften it, you are breaking down some of the leather fibers.  That can be a good or bad thing DEPENDING on what you want the leather to do after the project is sewn.  Generally speaking, if you WANT the leather to retain its body after you have sewn it up, then you don’t want to do that.  ALSO, you risk breaking/cracking the smooth surface of heavier leathers when you dry bend them.  There is NO way to repair that and though the leather will still “work” for most things, it just looks terrible when that happens.

Allow me to give you an example.  When sewing sword, knife or bayonet scabbards, INSTEAD of bending and breaking down the fibers, it is better to dampen the leather with water (and with distilled water if your local water is bad) so it will “bend enough” to sew it.  That way the leather will be firmer and retain its eventual shape of the scabbard when it dries.  You can also wet form leather for sewing/making other things like leather dice cups, belt/strap loops, cartridge boxes, etc. 

Now there are some parts of over the shoulder straps or belts that I do bend back and forth on themselves, but it is always after I have applied some kind of oil or leather dressing.  I like to do this on the upside down “U”  part of the shoulder strap that goes over the shoulder.  That way it won’t rub or chafe you as much.  I will also do it on the areas of leather belts that fit the sides of the body, but NOT so much where the strap goes through the buckle.  I want that part to retain much of its body so it doesn’t curl up like a pig tail.  I also do it on the areas of a leather sling that are bent back on themselves. 

Bottom line is the safest way to soften leather to sew it is by dampening it with good water.  Then you can break down the leather fibers in areas that you need or want them later after applying oil or leather dressing.

Gus

[TPH]

Pure Neats Foot Oil is what you want for dressing your stiff leather.  It will darken the colour, and make the leather very supple.

Exactly! PURE neatsfoot oil (not neatsfoot oil compound), lightly applied over time will soften the leather yet still leave it in good condition. Don't get in a hurry and overdo, it takes time.

[frenchman]

thank you every one
will do

[Mark Elliott]

I soak my leather in water before sewing it and work it over until it is uniformly crinkled.   That also makes it nice and pliable when dry.   Of course, you only do this if you want the leather to look broken in and used.     Jeff Bibb told me that he throws his leather in the washing machine.   I imagine that is the smart way to do it.   

[blaksmth]

I would recommend using LEXOL as a leather softener ,it will not rot the leather but puts in much needed preservatives that the leather needs when it dries out.

 My Father in law was a boot and saddle maker and he told me that neets foot oil was good on harnesses and such but not on fine leather that it would rot it

[Artificer]

Frenchman,
One more thing about sewing leather when it is wet, that one may not realize until it smacks you upside the head every now and then....  Grin.  

Every now and then, even after being extremely careful to cut the leather pieces to size or from a pattern, you wind up with one of the pieces of leather that is longer than the other.  Normally this is due to how much the leather of each piece stretches when you sew it.  By sewing it wet, you can stretch one or both pieces of leather as you sew it, so it comes out even all along the sewing and especially the last part of sewing.  Of course I don't mean soft leathers as you can normally stretch them enough when dry.   

Gus

[Frank Barker]

Blaksmith, your father-in-law is right on, neats foot oil will cause leather to rot. I recommend mink oil or the Dr Jackson's Hide Rejuvenator, to all of my customers. I like to start rubbing most of the oil into the flesh side of my project, let it soak in and reapply til you achieve the texture you are looking for. Tandy Leather sells the Dr Jackson product.

Regards   Frank Barker

[Chuck Burrows]

with all due respect to those making the statement about neats foot rotting leather, but neats foot in and of itself DOES not rot the leather (proven in at least two scientific test I know of, plus over 50 years experience in not only the new leather craft business but along with lots of repairs on all kinds of leather work - IMO one of the best wasy to learn about leather working)

The problem with neats foot (as well as most other leather oils) is it is generally applied too heavily - veg/bark tan leather should never be more than 18-22% oil content. Once it goes over that level the oil will cause the leather to over swell and break down the cellular walls. Neats foot in particular is a culprit since it is a heavy oil and folks either slop it on way too heavily (lots due to impatience it take between 12-24 hours for the oil to level out after application) - heating neatsfoot to around  110° F helps absorption immensely which aids in light applications.

FWIW - most modern neats foot oil (since the 1930's anyway) is not made from cow parts, but is rather based hog lard - the only commercial neats foot I know of made from cow parts is the Fiebings Brand Per their MSDS.

I agree that for general usage Lexol Conditioner is one of the best conditioners to use - it is specially formulated for leather and the formulation is designed to prevent de-hydration of the oil unlike Neats foot and even mink oil. Even Lexol though can be over applied and once those cell walls break down the leather is weakened forever (although not destroyed.
 
BTW - just a little factoid - there are period references from the ate 1700's about making and using neats foot oil for gun oil here in the "Colonies"....