Gold Leather Wax for Belts and other such things

[jasonbwell]

Hi all,

anybody have any advice on a good wax for my kilt belt, leather sporran, boots, etc?

[jasonbwell]

Shoot. this should say GOOD wax. Not GOLD. although gold leather sounds good...

[Brian Boru]

Jason,
A light coat of 100% neatsfoot oil is the best thing for your leathers. You only need to apply it maybe once every six months or so, depending on how much you wear you leathers.

Brian

[jasonbwell]

Thanks Brian!

[artificer]

Jason,

quite a lot will depend on they type and quality of leather you're talking about.

On a good quality bridle leather or other vegetable tanned cowhides, a light neatsfoot oil and the very occasional carnuba wax / buff will be fine.

On chrome tanned leathers, in many cases you're better off not using anything, especially if they have a top-coat finish.

On many lower-end sporrans/straps/belts you'll find that they are not, in fact, solid leather, but a material called "leatherboard". This is essentially the leather equivalent of "chipboard" in the world of wood.

IF you must use something on this type of leather (and I wouldn't recommend it) a dry paste wax is probably your best bet. If this type of leather-product gets wet it WILL start to lose integrity and come apart.

ith:

[Paul Henry]

I'd never use neatsfoot oil on any leather that would come in contact with fabric, perahps a gentle rub with a paste wax, but I'd be very careful to make I polished it off well.

[jasonbwell]

Jason,

quite a lot will depend on they type and quality of leather you're talking about.

On a good quality bridle leather or other vegetable tanned cowhides, a light neatsfoot oil and the very occasional carnuba wax / buff will be fine.

On chrome tanned leathers, in many cases you're better off not using anything, especially if they have a top-coat finish.

On many lower-end sporrans/straps/belts you'll find that they are not, in fact, solid leather, but a material called "leatherboard". This is essentially the leather equivalent of "chipboard" in the world of wood.

IF you must use something on this type of leather (and I wouldn't recommend it) a dry paste wax is probably your best bet. If this type of leather-product gets wet it WILL start to lose integrity and come apart.

ith:

Hi. all my leathers came from a vendor at the maryland faire. I assumed that they are true leather. Perhaps not tho?

[bigdad1]

Hi. all my leathers came from a vendor at the maryland faire. I assumed that they are true leather. Perhaps not tho?

Perhaps not a safe assumption to make.

I would not use neats foot oil on anything that will come in contact with any sort of cloth lest you wind up with stains that will not come out.

[Chas]

Hi all,

anybody have any advice on a good wax for my kilt belt, leather sporran, boots, etc?

I am no expert (far from it), but I would have thought that each of those items is vastly different and would require a different treatment. I don't think that one blanket tratment would work.

Regards

Chas

[artificer]

Hi. all my leathers came from a vendor at the maryland faire. I assumed that they are true leather. Perhaps not tho?

Perhaps not a safe assumption to make.

This is quite true, especially at festivals where prices can sometimes be a bit higher for a product than you might pay elsewhere on a normal day.

If you've got pictures of the pieces in question or a manufacturers' name we might be able to lend more assistance.

I would not use neatsfoot oil on anything that will come in contact with any sort of cloth lest you wind up with stains that will not come out.

This is a good point.

I am no expert (far from it), but I would have thought that each of those items is vastly different and would require a different treatment. I don't think that one blanket tratment would work.

Regards

Chas

The sporran (back), belt, and strap might possibly be all from the same leather if purchased from the same manufacturer, but shoes and boots are certainly going to be different.

Again, there are SO many variables here, without specific info, all that can be provided is general guidelines.

ith: