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    Iron Heart Fall/Winter 2025 Collection Preview - Now Live

    Leather Preservative Experiment

    The Resource Centre
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    • mclaincauseyM
      mclaincausey
      見習いボス
      Joined:

      I'd think that vegetable oils (like olive oil) that can go rancid would be a bad idea.

      Think it, be it.

      last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • dave28D
        dave28
        Joined:

        I made the fatal error of putting neatsfoot oil on several pairs of leather shoes and boots.

        Mould, mould and more mould. Disgusting stuff ruined all my leather goods.

        last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • mclaincauseyM
          mclaincausey
          見習いボス
          Joined:

          That's crazy, that's what Nick Horween says to use on cxl

          Think it, be it.

          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • mclaincauseyM
            mclaincausey
            見習いボス
            Joined:

            This isn't true, mineral oil would have been fine on the butcher block (but NOT on leather).

            The logic is entirely backwards, the entire rationale for vacuum sealing, for example, is exactly the opposite what he's describing, removing oxygen and oxidation from the material to be preserved so that it WON'T rot.

            @Rollo:

            @seawolf:

            A bit of warning: Olive oil rots over time, and smells really bad. I thought it would be a good idea to oil my big butcher block with olive oil, because, you know, its a cutting board, so what better to oil it with than olive oil, right? Wrong! After about a year, I noticed a foul odor that actually permeated the food and tasted horrible. I can't imagine the effect would be less on a nice piece of leather. Since that incident, I got a new butcher block, and oil it with mineral oil, which won't rot, and keeps my block looking (and smelling) fresh!

            As good as that olive oiled leather looks, I would strongly advise NOT using olive oil on your own belts!

            There's a good reason your chopping board became stinky.
            Oil creates a seal, that will seal any sort of dirt, mud or tiny chopping remnants inside of it. It'd be like coating a piece of meat in vaseline so it degrades in an almost oxygen free environment and any space in that seal is going to reek.

            Think it, be it.

            last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • ChrisC
              Chris
              Raw and Unwashed
              Joined:

              @dave28:

              I made the fatal error of putting neatsfoot oil on several pairs of leather shoes and boots.

              Mould, mould and more mould. Disgusting stuff ruined all my leather goods.

              Do you have any pictures of the damage?

              last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • seawolfS
                seawolf
                Mod Squad
                Joined:

                @Chris , are you thinking it's bloom, not mold?

                “Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible” - Don Norman

                @zeebeeleather

                last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • dave28D
                  dave28
                  Joined:

                  @Chris:

                  @dave28:

                  I made the fatal error of putting neatsfoot oil on several pairs of leather shoes and boots.

                  Mould, mould and more mould. Disgusting stuff ruined all my leather goods.

                  Do you have any pictures of the damage?

                  No but in one case I had two pairs of expensive 1000 mile leather boots.
                  I left one pair untreated and one pair treated with neatsfoot.
                  The treated pair developed green looking crud all over them where the oil was used.
                  The untreated pair stayed like new.
                  Both were kept in very similar place so I can only blame the oil really.
                  It happened with other stuff as well though, not just those boots.
                  Maybe I used too much, I don't know.

                  last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • ChrisC
                    Chris
                    Raw and Unwashed
                    Joined:

                    @seawolf:

                    @Chris , are you thinking it's bloom, not mold?

                    You read my mind. 🙂

                    Though the fact that it was green, rather than white, gives me doubt.

                    last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • seawolfS
                      seawolf
                      Mod Squad
                      Joined:

                      Yeah, agreed. My theory? There was already moisture present in the leather. That kind of reaction isn't normal.

                      “Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible” - Don Norman

                      @zeebeeleather

                      last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • seawolfS
                        seawolf
                        Mod Squad
                        Joined:

                        Okay, it's been over 13 years. How are the samples? 😂

                        “Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible” - Don Norman

                        @zeebeeleather

                        last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • GilesG
                          Giles
                          IHUK Crew
                          Joined:

                          Probably knocking around somewhere.....

                          "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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