Neatsfoot oil for Holster?

[treebeard]

I've read the article on this site about holster preservation. For years I've used 100% neatsfoot oil as a leather preservative--it does darken the leather. How does the Picard and Lexol compare-especially as to the darkening of the leather. I've just acquired an excellent condition brown Luger holster that I want to do the right thing by.Thanks for any advice.

[Johnny Peppers]

I used neatsfoot oil years ago. Found that it not only darkened the leather but softened it so much that it eventually came apart.I have used Picard ANTIQUE on all of my leather and never had it darken anything. I understand that the Picard ANTIQUE is the choice of many museums. I have the web site for Picard if you are interested. Regards Mac

I am a horse person for years i too have used neatsfoot oil (no good for old stiches) go to local tackshop get some horsemens one step you will be surprised on results Charlie

[BILL]

Neatsfoot oil has the added feature of dissolving the fibers of leather. It will make it nice and soft but if you want to keep it around for any length of time..don't use it.

[Frank]

I'll add my support to Picard ANTIQUE. It's the best I've seen. Lugerholsterrepair (Jerry Burney) should step in. He has a bunch more experience than I do in this regard.

[lugerholsterrepair]

Hey guys. I think it was Marvin that had a great link to a leather site four or five months ago and it was a great site. Marvin..If you have that or can find it I think it would be time to re-run that one. If we can find that one it is worth reading for every Forum member that wants to preserve leather.


Neatsfoot oil was developed to break down the fibers of shoe soles that were too stiff. This stuff is poison to holster leather. It will soften it and every movement thereafter will help to pull the leather fibers apart.


I use my own potions and really like them both for different purposes. On new vegetable tanned leather I use Dr. Jackson's Hide Rejuvinator. Available from Tandy Corp. The other I use for vintage German holsters is Hide food made by an English firm for exclusive use for Jaguar dealerships on their leather car seats. As far as I know it is only available at a Jaguar dealership. Contrary to popular belief I do not know everything there is to know about preserving leather. I use two products that seem to work for me but in fact it could proove down the road that something else was or is better. I try to have an open mind about it and learn as much as possible. Jerry Burney

[Marvin]

As Jerry stated, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER put neatsfoot oil on a holster, it will eventually be ruined!


The leather site must be on my work computer. I will try to remember Monday morning to post it if I still havew the address.


Marvin

[Thor]

Jerry, it never hurts to repeat GOOD information! Keep reminding us of DO NOTS! I appreciate your knowledge of leather topics! ~Thor~

[tom]

Not only does it ruin the leather it provides a "free lunch" to the bugs and mold that do such a great job on eating your holster. The stuff is awful for old leather.


The Hyde Food Jerry mentioned is also available at Rolls Royce dealerships; most of whom will be glad to mail it to you-call their parts department-I have used it for many years and found it to be a great product for putting moisture back into a dried holster.


FWIW


Tom

[Kyrie]

Hi Treebeard,


Avoid Neatsfoot oil like the plague.


Iâ??ve had the best luck with â??Dr. Jacksonâ??s Hide Rejuvenatorâ?� from Tandy Leather. But then I donâ??t do anything to a holster unless itâ??s in dire straights to begin with.


Best regards,


Kyrie

This is a joke, right? Is someone trying to murder me at a distance by inducing a heart attack?


Dave

holster guy in Colorado

If you read the Pecard web site you will see it indicates Pecard for leather that can not be properly cared for. Unless your leather collection is stored in a jungle that floods every year and freezes every winter. Pecards is not going to help you collection of treasured holsters. I just turned away two rare holsters some unfortunate person Pecard'd. Pecards is a wonderful product for waterproofing (my favorite leather treatment) but like many products only shortens the life of your collectible leather items.


Museums that have SEVERE environmental conditions (like in flood zones or in poor storage buildings, etc) and already seriously damaged leather, cloth, or paper items have techniques for stabilizing and preserving the items. Oiling or otherwise applying creams, soaps or goos is almost never appropriate. The ACS (conservators -- web site at Stanford Univ) and many research studies point to the proper caring for historic leather and other organic artifacts. A summary can be read at


web.uccs.edu/dmclain/Conservation/hn


Dave

In high school chemistry you were taught that "like dissolves like". Pecards, neatsfoot oil (or mink oil or other oil), saddle oils, and greases of any kind are petroleum-based solvents of varying viscosity. They each dissolve organic fibers (leather!) at differing rates and are good for protecting leather in rain. Therefore, each of these products will accelerate the breakdown of your leather holsters into the red dust all leather eventually becomes. Treatment with these products may be familiar to you from seeing "red rot" on leather at gun shows. Dissolved leather crumbles. Goos and oils suitable for modern leather items seeing routine use have a very different purpose than you are trying to accomplish by preserving your holster in as new a condition as possible for as long as possible.


You can not "moisturize" or "nourish" leather. You CAN maintain the proper moisture levels in the surrounding air. Leather is very porous and equalizes moisture content with the surrounding air. The only way to moisturize leather is to keep the surrounding air moist--something recommended to a level of 60%. Variation in moisture or temperature is bad.


There are no commercial goos that will help your old leather--be warned these treatments are harmful to your holsters.


Be careful whose advice you listen to--gun show Bob? Whatever you do, if you are not a chemist and conservator specializing in leather, paper, cloth or other organic historicals, follow the rules of the conservator:

DO NOTHING THAT CAN NOT BE REVERSED (the first and best rule to remember)!!!!!:


Keep light low (UV catalizes the breakdown of leather fibers), temp and humidity stable (cool and 55-65%), reduce stress on the object, keep the object clean from dirt and dust.


Dave

holster collector

[schwob]

If you own a good piece of leather, i.e. a WWI or whatever time frame holster, just schmear on the Neatsfoot oil. put it away. Come back some time later, the holster wil go blah in your hand, and then the tears will flow, but it wouldn't help. Ruined is ruined.

Also called Connolly "Hide Care" picked some up at a Auto Parts store 16 plus dollars for a 284ml jar its not cheap but good.

my local shoe repair shop cleaned and treated one of my holsters with saddle soap...came out looking great!!

Check the ingredients in Hide Chow (what is it called?) and see if it is basically petroleum based solvents. I can not conceive of what good it could possibly do for a holster except make it glisten a bit. I have read lots of research reports, garnered a degree in chem, worked in chem labs, tried to recover dozens of oily holsters and spent time preserving leather as old as 250 years for a museum and evertime I ask someone why the goo they put on THEIR holsters is so wonderful, they always say, I have used it for years and it works for me. They never can explain what "works for me" means. Their leather holsters, on the other hand, are dark and crumbling.


Be warned.


dave

[Johnny Peppers]

Have been using Pecard's Antique Leather Dressing for at least 25 years now on various collectible leathers. There has been no deterioration in the past 25 years, and I know that some of the holsters and slings have been brought back from an early death with treatment with Pecards. As with the use of anything else, common sense and good judgement goes a long way in preservation. Maybe some have had a bad experience with the Pecards slathered on like grease on a wheelbearing, but I defy anyone to look at any of my holsters and tell me that the holster has ever had Pecards on it, or show me any signs of deterioration and imminent decay. It is an absolute fact that all leather will eventually turn to dust no matter how well it is cared for. I recently had the opportunity to possibly purchase a set of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion which were originally bound in leather. The set of 128 books were originally printed around 1898 and this set had been in a private library that was centrally heated and air conditioned for the last 45 years. The leather was turning to dust, and the acid paper pages would crumble to the touch. These books had never been treated in any way, and still they deteriorated. I will enjoy my holsters and continue to treat them yearly with Pecards, as they will all outlast me by many years. Who knows what the next owner may do with them. I will not lose any sleep as long as my holsters are preserved to my satisfaction for my lifetime.

[Jay Newman]

Thanks for the information regarding the leather conservation web-site Dave. It is very informative, and I intend to follow their advice.