Trad Gang
Main Boards => Trad History/Collecting => Topic started by: Mojostick on April 06, 2014, 10:33:00 PM
-
I've used Wilson Baseball Glove oil on grips I wanted to darken and bring back life too, but what's the best option for old leather grips that you want to help from drying out, but still keeping the basic original color?
-
I've never used Neatsfoot oil on my old Bear bow leather grips, but I have my dad's baseball glove from the 1930's and that's all he ever used on it....the leather is still soft and pliable, just like brand new.
-
I've heard neatsfoot from a buddy of mine. I know a cracked grip is a cracked grip, but it would seem some conditioning could help extend the life of a cracked grip.
-
I read a thing by Chuck Burrows that animal skin/ leather has a very high fat content and that animal fat was the best way to re-condition dried out leather. So, I rendered down some deer tallow and have been using it on old leather with great results. It's amazing how much dried leather will soak up. I could send you some if you don't have any laying around.
-
As a tanner in my earlier life and a renderer for the past thirty five years, my advice is to not use animal fat. Animal fats oxidize and turn rancid in most situations.
One thing that we did use to make leather supple was a small amount of sperm whale oil in our final soak. This added back some lubrication to the fibers that was lost when the hide was bated prior to being tanned. The killing of whales was a hot topic back then and we lost our supply and had to convert over to a synthetic product.
My suggestion is to just purchase some saddle soap and use it.