Leather Preservative Experiment

[madmonday]

speaking of Foxes, what have you done with the lovely Madame 

[jimmy]

This is great!!

[bagley920]

Giles, should have added a 5th with just olive oil haha

[Giles]

Consider it done…..

[Giles]

OK, so this is 5 minutes after the olive oil application…...

[Seul]

Brilliant stuff here!.. Really comes in handy!.. Thanks, G!..

[bagley920]

I think my belt will be heart healthy very soon!

[mvb]

great idea monday and mr.g

[RedStripe]

look forward to seeing the updates, great idea

[Giles]

On the basis that we can't have too much comparative data, here they are after 6 days outside:

I'll apply the potions again tomorrow….

[jacoavlu]

I wonder what kind of oil is in Obenauf's… I don't think it's neatsfoot, though neatsfoot oil does tend to darken leather quite a bit

[Giles]

I think that part of the reason that the Ober Oil sample is so dark is that it is very fluid, so it soaks in big time….

[Giles]

The appliance of science…....Well some oils......

[ChuckDenim]

Olive is my favourite.

[simonc]

Can you do a suppleness, bend or texture test to see which has softened more?

[Giles]

I will after a few months.  Pretty pointless imo after a week….G

[Giles]

Wandered past the experiment a few mins ago.  It is raining here, this is what we have got….........

[madmonday]

wow, look at the way the water beads up on some.

[bagley920]

I still like the color of the olive oil best

[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!