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- Aug 29, 2010
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It's the 2nd annual National Leathercraft Day (yup, I never heard of it either). What better time for an annual reminder to take a look at your leather, be it a stacked handle, a sheath, or whatever, a small bit of maintenance goes a long way.
Now here's the most important thing about this topic in my opinion:
The type of product you use isn't that crucial. Any maintenance is good maintenance.
We all have preferences, I've used a ton of products and know what I like.
Personally, I'm a big fan of the Montana Pitch Blend products. I especially like their 'Leather Oil & Conditioner'. Recently I started using 'Skidmore's Leather Cream'. Those are my favorite products by far and plan in using them pretty exclusively from now on.
With leather stacked handles, get some oil on them, get them warm (not too hot, some sunshine is fine) and work something into the leather, multiple light costs are better than one heavy coat. I like to use an oil first because it penetrates well, I've found that heavy waxes just coat the outside. That's a good thing too, but with a stacked handle you want that oil in there as a barrier.
I would use less oil on say, a sheath. A light coat of a cream or wax is usually all it takes. A light wipe down beforehand with some warm water would be fine if it needs it, just make sure it dries (naturally, not forced) before you apply any conditioner.
Oils will darken your leather the most, followed by creams and waxes will barely if any.
I like to use oil first, then cream, then wax. Kind of a 'most penetrant' to 'least penetrant' order.
Lookin forward to new techniques and will try to answer any questions if I can.
Now here's the most important thing about this topic in my opinion:
The type of product you use isn't that crucial. Any maintenance is good maintenance.
We all have preferences, I've used a ton of products and know what I like.
Personally, I'm a big fan of the Montana Pitch Blend products. I especially like their 'Leather Oil & Conditioner'. Recently I started using 'Skidmore's Leather Cream'. Those are my favorite products by far and plan in using them pretty exclusively from now on.
With leather stacked handles, get some oil on them, get them warm (not too hot, some sunshine is fine) and work something into the leather, multiple light costs are better than one heavy coat. I like to use an oil first because it penetrates well, I've found that heavy waxes just coat the outside. That's a good thing too, but with a stacked handle you want that oil in there as a barrier.
I would use less oil on say, a sheath. A light coat of a cream or wax is usually all it takes. A light wipe down beforehand with some warm water would be fine if it needs it, just make sure it dries (naturally, not forced) before you apply any conditioner.
Oils will darken your leather the most, followed by creams and waxes will barely if any.
I like to use oil first, then cream, then wax. Kind of a 'most penetrant' to 'least penetrant' order.
Lookin forward to new techniques and will try to answer any questions if I can.
