How to clean up sheath.

S

skillgannon

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Apr 27, 2009
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I put carnauba wax on my sheath and now I can't get the excess out of the nooks and crannies. Any ideas?
 
Well....I was working with a leather conditioner that had oil and beeswax in it, but I got the white excess too. First time I had that I used a toothbrush to get the white out. Took a bit, but it worked. Now I get my wife's hair dryer and heat it up till it melts and goes into the leather.
 
Randydb said:
Well....I was working with a leather conditioner that had oil and beeswax in it, but I got the white excess too. First time I had that I used a toothbrush to get the white out. Took a bit, but it worked. Now I get my wife's hair dryer and heat it up till it melts and goes into the leather.
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This. An old toothbrush has worked well for me as well to clean up wax from my sheaths.
 
Sunshine works well, as does a hair dryer. Ya know those free toothbrushes ya get from the dentist? Yeah, got several in my tool box. They rock for that. Where you using the carnuba wax as a finish S skillgannon ?
 
Horsewright said:
Sunshine works well, as does a hair dryer. Ya know those free toothbrushes ya get from the dentist? Yeah, got several in my tool box. They rock for that. Where you using the carnuba wax as a finish S skillgannon ?
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I thought it would give some shine and water protection. I tossed it on my dashboard with the heater on high and then scrubbed like crazy. It gets powdery. I gave it some snowseal and that helped. It was going to a guy at work and the job might be over soon so today was the day.
 
Good deal glad it worked out. Funny cause I had to use one of those brushes myself this morning. Had a rifle scabbard I was finishing off to shipped for Christmas and had some of the conditioner (Oakwood) down in some of the rolling. Brushed right out.
 
Horsewright said:
Good deal glad it worked out. Funny cause I had to use one of those brushes myself this morning. Had a rifle scabbard I was finishing off to shipped for Christmas and had some of the conditioner (Oakwood) down in some of the rolling. Brushed right out.
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That was my first tooled sheath. Leather is a bit of a rabbit hole. I'm not really sure when to use wax or oil based stuff other than just taking care of my work boots. How do things like soaps and conditioners come in?
 
I've been using Nikwax warmed with heat gun. Ian Atkinson on youtube uses snoseal. I just heard about Bag Kote from Fiebings. These are all to add some protection from water.
 
Here's a tutorial I did over in Sheaths and Such. It'll help ya out some if ya ain't seen it:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/pancake-sheaths-and-how-i-go-about-them-pic-heavy.1262927/

So I'll make a sheath and then oil it at that time. Very LIGHT coat of pure neatsfoot oil that has been warmed up. Don't use the neatsfoot oil compound. I'll let the oil set and then rub the edges and apply finish. I'm huge on BagKote and literally have used many gallons of it over the years. It makes leather look like leather not plastic. Ya can't make leather waterproof and still have it be leather. But if ya need some water resistance try Bee Natural's RTC Sheridan Resist and Finish. Its glossier than BagKote which I don't like but it is more water resistant. I'll never oil an item again after that initial oiling. I'll use a cream conditioner and am big on Oakwood, Skidmores or RW Williams. Its too easy to get too much oil on leather and make it stretchy or soggy. Stick with a cream. Apply and wipe off excess, buff later. Thats how we take care of our saddles too and them things is stupid $$$$.

Just oil and Bag Kote makes leather look like leather:

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We make these horseshoe drink coasters. Bout the only time we don't use the Bag Kote. Here we use the RTC and they get about 6 coats.

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Works pretty well. BagKote stains up in that application.
 
I use carnuaba wax on every sheath and finish by brushing with an acid brush. It gives them some water resistance and a nice shine that I like. It's easy to brush out of crevices from stitching or tooling if you wait long enough for it to dry. If you try to brush too soon it will sometimes just work it in to a point where it's visible but not easy to get out, then I have to work at it with a tooth brush.

I don't typically use any heat.

One reason I do it this way is it's easy for a customer to source (Trewax at Ace) and to reapply. Wipe on, dry, brush to shine. That's it.
 
Exactly one of the reasons I recommend the conditioning creams I do. Easy to source (most tack and feed stores will have them) and of course we live in the age of the internet. Easy for the customer to re apply and keep their stuff good and looking good as the conditioners will condition. Once leather has dried and cracked, there's no going back. Nothing wrong with the carnuba. Fact I got a jar around somewhere. It just doesn't do anything that the others won't why not doing what they will.
 
If you need something fast and don't have a lot of leather supplies, any local department store or shoe store should have a tin of Mink Oil. I use that on my expensive leather motorcycle jacket. Unfortunately that jacket has seen a lot of rain (with me in it) and Mink Oil works great.

On my sheaths I use Montana Pitch Blend which is a mixture of beeswax, pine pitch and mink oil I believe. It doesn't leave a plastic look or waxy white residue in the crevices.

There are a number of effective products out there. I don't know anyone who finishes more leather than Dave. If he says something works I'd listen.
 
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