How to care fore leather products - The Sho Room

Caring for your leather products - how to condition veg tanned leather

Is your favourite leather collar, belt or wallet starting to look dry? or perhaps you've owned it for a long time now and have some cracks or scratches? 

Putting a little effort in to care for your leather product when they need is a great idea if you want them to stay in good condition for a long time. 

 

Hi everyone, today I am sharing some tips for looking after your leather products. It is not a complicated process at all, and it does not need to be done often either.

Oiling can remoisturise and nourish the old, dry leather and make scratches and cracks less visible. Finishing the process with beeswas can even give it a shiny-new look.

This is tip for conditioning vegetable tanned leather, which is the leather
I use for all my products. ( it may be different to technique used for other leather products.) 

 

 

Things you need: 

Clean, soft cloth

Sponge

Oil (neatsfoot oil or Extra virgin olive oil)

Beeswax and a hair dryer 

 

 

 

1. Cleaning 

Before applying anything to the leather, you will need to clean the leather with dry, clean cloth to remove any dirt. If there is a lot of dirt and hard to remove, using wet cloth can help. Be sure to dry the leather if you use wet cloth.

 

 

 

2. Oiling

 

Oiling does not have to be done very often, as natural oil in human hands transfer to leather as you handle items. 

 

If the leather seems dry, applying leather oil, such as neatsfoot oil can help moisturise the leather and keep it healthy. Keep in mind applying oil to leather darkens it slightly. Generally the more oil the darker. 

 

Olive oil darkens leather less than neatsfoot oil, and I prefer using extra virgin olive oil for my products.

 

Once leather is clean, apply small amount of oil at a time with sponge. Avoid large amount at a time as this will cause spots with excess amount. It is best to start small amount, and apply evenly across the whole thing. 

Let it dry really well, at least an hour or so.

 

 

 

3. Polishing

 

After oiling you can finish it with a beeswax coating. This is not necessary but if you do, it will add a protective layer and great sheen. It also works as a moisture proof barrier. 

Apply a small amount of beeswax with sponge. Add heat to the area with beeswax with hair dryer. when you see the beeswax liquefy, rub it in with the sponge so the leather absorbs it. (keep adding heat)

Do the process until the leather evenly absorbs beeswax. Then Polish with dry cloth until it is shiny. (No heat at this point)

 

Once the leather cools down the process is finished. At this point your leather should be clean, soft, moisturised and wet proof. 

 

 

 

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