Restoration of old leather ???

The product has some high powered claims, but if it will do what they say it would be well worth their high prices, Much will depend on just how far your leather has degraded. I know of no product that will replace that which is GONE in terms of fiber connection. If your piece has what is commonly called "dry rot", that is the fiber connections are turned to dry dust then I doubt you will have success. Anything short of that is worth a shot. Just remember to use anything you are going to use sparingly with repeated light applications over a period of days or weeks. Not a whole bunch at once.

Paul
 
I found an old motorcycle jacket at a yard sale (25 cents) that had been stored in a basement for many years. It was moldy, stiff as a board, and looked like it should have been thrown away 20 years before. I scrubbed it down with a stiff bristle brush and saddle soap, which cleaned off all the mold, mud, and grease.
Then, because I didn't really care if it worked or not, I soaked it in 'ArmorAll' and let it sit overnight. The next day I had a jacket that felt like a well worn soft leather friend. All I had to do was use a light wash with saddle soap to remove the surface 'slick' and I used that jacket for three years before I sold it at MY yard sale for $10!

Stitchawl
 
Book binder friend uses a mixture of Neets foot oil and liquid lanolin (buy at pharmacy) she retores some old old book leather
 
I'm always hesitant to approach this subject since leather restoration of old and especially damaged leather is a complicated issue and when it comes to doing it right I defer to the experts - museum conservators. This is especially so when leather is fragile like this sling sounds like and it also sounds like it's been damaged by gun oil which takes special care to repair properly.
So my first suggestion is to contact a professional leather conservator (I worked with one for a while and their methods can be very different than the common ones used by leather crafters - the methods are often based on tests done to the leather), but if that isn't possible or not your choice, than please read this very good article written by a conservator:
http://www.garciaaviation.com/conserve.html

As Paul noted, there is old dried out leather and then there is old DAMAGED leather and of the latter I've seen far too many pieces that have been ruined by folks (even experienced leather crafters who are generally not trained in conservation/repair techniques) using the wrong "tool" for the job.
For instance washing with saddle soap and/or adding a conditioner, which might work well on new leather or older dried out leather, can in fact cause damage i.e. old oil will acidify over time and adding more can exacerbate the problem and cause irreversible damage. Often times in old damged leather the cell walls have broken down and the integrity of the leather is lost - adding a conditioner in this case will often just increase the damage - I've seen it happen, what was once a prized possesion becomes a soggy, shapeless mess. In a case like that the piece needs to be stabilized rather than conditioned (or a combo of both with the conditoning if need be coming after the stabilization) and then stored properly (keep it out of the sun for one)

Personally - without examining the piece first hand I won't offer any suggestions other than those I've listed above...and FWIW even then I would still recommend a professional conservator in this case since if is a "rare" piece.
 
Thanks guys for your suggestions and comments. I appreciate it. There's no real value to the item. It's an old dilapidated satchel made from walrus leather. I understand it's in pretty bad shape. It's being mailed to me by slow boat so I probably won't see it for a while, especially considering the postal load this time of year. I don't intend to resurrect the satchel, but do hope to salvage some pieces of usable leather for inlay, if I can. I'll post some photos once it arrives and consult with you again at that time. In the mean time, I'll round up a few products that I might be able to try on different "swatches" of it to see if anything works. Who knows, maybe the thing will be just so much junk. We'll see...

All the best, Phil
 
WR,

Your post is great - and much more cautious than mine. I wish to defer to you, because on further thought - I think your approach is much more correct.

TF
 
Farmer Phil said:
Thanks guys for your suggestions and comments. I appreciate it. There's no real value to the item. It's an old dilapidated satchel made from walrus leather. I understand it's in pretty bad shape. It's being mailed to me by slow boat so I probably won't see it for a while, especially considering the postal load this time of year. I don't intend to resurrect the satchel, but do hope to salvage some pieces of usable leather for inlay, if I can. I'll post some photos once it arrives and consult with you again at that time. In the mean time, I'll round up a few products that I might be able to try on different "swatches" of it to see if anything works. Who knows, maybe the thing will be just so much junk. We'll see...

All the best, Phil
Click to expand...

With that said I would HIGHLY recommend Lexol Conditioner.......and as always apply SPARINGLy - dampening the leather with water first (not sopping wet) will aid in penetration - then apply the conditioner from both surfaces.....
 
If the leather guys are still in the neighborhood, I have a question about dried leather as well and would certainly appreciate some advice.

I recently found my old Buck 119 with its original fold over holster style sheath. It has been in my gun closet for the last 20 years after a lot of use, starting when I bought it in about 1972. So the sheath is a couple of years short of 40 years, adn still in pretty good shape.

It was used hard, but taken care of as well. Back in the 70s this thing had so much Neatsfoot oil on it that it was almost rubbery. I even used a good English shoe polish on it when the Neatsfoot had soaked in enough to allow the polish to work properly. Now it is still very flexible, no cracking and the glazing/dye is still in great shape. But the sheath feels really dry, and I would be afraid to wear it until I treated it.

I may start using this knife again off and on or I may be gifting this knife to my nephew in the next year or two. Heck, I enjoyed fondling it just for old time's sake. At one time, that was the very best knife I owned. It went on a million camp outs and hunting expeditions. OK, at least in south Texas, anyway.

I would love to hear some suggestions on what to do to get this sheath usable again.

Thanks -

Robert
 
I said it before and I'll say it again; 'ArmorAll'

Don't knock it 'til ya try it. I've used it on leather that was bone dry and cracking and had it come back to very usable condition. I saturated the leather with it, let it sit, then washed off the excess. Got three more years hard wear out of a 'dead' motorcycle jacket that way. (Bought it for 25 cents at a yard sale and sold it for $10 when I had a jacket made for me three years later.)

No... it's not a usual leather goods treatment, although the label does say it renews leather. Normally I would have used neatsfoot oil or Lexol on the leather, but a) I didn't want the oily feel of the neatsfoot oil, and b) I really didn't think Lexol would touch it. (The leather was really in THAT bad a state!) It certainly renewed that old jacket!

I doubt I'd use ArmorAll on some museum-piece of historical value. I'd be afraid to. I doubt the Smithsonian uses it to restore old saddlery from the Middle Ages. But I'd certainly use it to restore the suppleness (is that a word?) to a piece of modern leather... and I work with leather all the time.

Stitchawl
 
Thanks guys. It's quite a list.

  • LEXOL leather conditioner and preservative
  • Obenauf's Heavy Duty Leather Preservative
  • Via Garcia Aviation...
    • Talas Leather Protector (fungicide: 7% potassium lactate and 1/4% paranitrophenol)
    • Talas Leather Dressing (60% neat's foot oil & 40% lanolin)
  • Preservation Solution's Leather Rejuvenator
  • Montana Pitch-Blend's Leather Oil & Conditioner (pine pitch & mink oil)
  • Amoral
Looks like you've helped me zero in on my learning curve somewhat. I will commence reading. I'll probably start with the Lexol. If I want to try out other products too, that would give me a "baseline" as well.

All the best, Phil
 
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