leather care

   I'm looking for some inputs on leather care, what works best
especially in environments where it might rain alot.

  I have a pair of deerskin gloves I bought a year and a half ago when
I first started riding.  They've seen thousands of miles and more than
a few rain showers.  They have held up OK but I'm noticing that the
leather is weakening along the fingertips- turning sort of "nu-buck"
looking.  I'm wondering if mink oil is really the best thing to be
using on the leather, because that's all about I used, about once
every time it rained hard.  I also dried them a few times in the drier
on low, which probably wasn't the smartest move because even on low
the gloves got too warm- but they weren't air drying all that much.

  Another thing I tried originally when I got the gloves was Nikwax
(in a small tube), which sort-of works but it also takes time and
eternity to cure and doesn't make the gloves fully waterproof, and
only seems to last a few months or a few rain showers.  And once they
get soaked it seems to delay the drying.  I don't think there is
anything that really waterproofs leather.   I do use the liquid Nikwax
in my textile jackets.  It works great, it helps keep the jackets
windproof, and even on the mesh jacket I have it seems to help the
jacket shed water.  But on leather... I'm not as impressed.

   I got a Joe Rocket leather jacket off eBay that had been in a
crash, a few minor scuffs.  The dude neglected to tell me it had a
snap torn off, but I contacted Joe Rocket and they sent me a new
snap.  I took it down to a local Pakistani leatherworker that
specializes in race suits and he repaired the jacket for a small
amount of money.  I read up on staining and filling minor scuffs, so I
used some latex based vinyl/leather repair on a few of the scuffs that
were the worst (I thinned it up and basicly filled the area), others I
just put some dye on them and some shoe polish wax and buffed it and
it looks OK.  It looks really good on the whole, like it hasn't been
in a wreck and taken apart, not quite brand new but close.   I have
been mostly wearing textiles in the past.  I'm figuring wearing
leather during the rainy season is probably a bad idea based on my
experience with gloves.

  So... what is the best way to take care of leather so it lasts?  Is
there anything that will make leather water resitant without screwing
it up?

 Magnulus wrote:


Did you try Nikwax Glove Proof, or the stuff for boots?

 On Dec 11, 1:29 pm, Doug Payne

  It was a waxy looking stuff which smelled like a finish you might
use on wood, and comes in a tube.  I bought it on sale from a local
cyclegear, they stopped carrying it eventually.  It does take a long
time to dry.  Maybe I just didn't stick with it long enough.

  The wash in liquid stuff I use on textile jackets every couple of
months when I wash them (I hand wash them).  It dries fast, too, and
does work, more or less.

  I think mink oil makes the leather TOO soft; maybe it weakens it.  I
wasn't oiling the gloves all that often, only after they got wet and I
dried them out.

 I don't think Leather is meant to be waterproofed, just to protect you
aginst the Road, and the cold/wind.
If you make leather waterproof, then you will stop the material from
breathing, to let out sweat etc.

Leather needs to breathe, or it will just dru up and get brittle.
Besides, there are muich better materials for rain protection.
Bg

 

I've had decent results from SnowSeal boot waterproofing.
I wouldn't use this stuff anyplace where I wanted to
preserve breathability though. You need a little heat after
application to soften it and let it soak into the leather.