What to Put on Dry Scabbard Leather?

Mr. Dynamite

Mr. Dynamite

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Hey there, need some advice.
I have an old socket bayonet with a leather and brass scabbard that I picked up a couple of years ago. Not in all that bad of condition, but the leather is quite dry. What is the best conditioner to put on it to moisten the leather with out doing any damage to the piece? Have a couple K98 bayonet frogs I want to do this on as well.

Thanks for any and all advice!
 
Neatsfoot oil. Neatsfoot oil has been used for 200 years or so. Great for softening and conditioning leather goods and horse tack. Ideal for any outdoor intended purpose for leather. Pure neatsfoot oil was originally made from the rendered shin bones and feet.
it will darken light leathers. Always spot test where possible. It has worked perfect for all the old war beauties in the safe.
 
Ballistol. It was developed before WWI to be a general purpose preservative for leather and wood by the militaries of Europe.

Some gun stores and sewing machine centers carry it. It works well on leather and will cause it to swell back to suppleness.

As the Frankford Arsenal Museum curator says, you can preserve leather for a long time but if it gets cracked, there is no way to repair it, without replacing the cracked part. In this case, that would be unacceptable.
 
Going back to my days of cleaning and fixing saddles ...

All of the above suggestions are good ones. Neatsfoot oil is certainly the traditional stuff to use, though be warned: It might make the leather too floppy if you use too much. Ballistol works well, and lanolin I know about but have never used.

One other suggestion, especially if it needs to be cleaned is Glycerine soap. Just good old Pear's Glycerine bath soap will do, though there are various liquid glycerine saddle soaps in spray bottles on the market. Same stuff though.

I don't know how far the leather in question has gone over, but I have used the following method on old harness that was so dry and curled that I am sure it would have snapped in two if I bent it too far over. I put the harness in question straight into a water trough and let it soak for a couple of days. And then when it came out, I soaped it, soaped it, scrubbed it, rinsed it, and soaped it some more. While it was wet I also restitched the bits that needed it, but most of the thread was still good. Anyway, I did not rinse the final soaping out of it, but just let it dry in the shade. Then when it was dry(ish) I wiped it down with a light coat of pure neatsfoot oil. I won't say it was like new, because leather never is. But it was stiff enough, supple enough, and did not want to crack anymore when bent.

If your leathers are not so far gone as this, I would still use glycerine soap, but I would not soak the leather first.
 
In my opinion, the absolute best thing to put on leather if you plan on preserving it a long time is absolutely nothing.

This is an old debate and the general consensus in the museum community is that the products for leather preservation all seem to do more harm than good. The Smithsonian museum went threw this debate and many items were harmed during the period when they thought a leather condition would help with preservation.

If the item is something you want to use, not overly valuable, and you don't care too much about preservation than Pickards or the other suggestions above would be fine for fixing your problem for the short term.

Of course, this is simply my opinion, but if it's a valuable historical leather item than it's best to just keep it properly stored and not touch it with any products or oils.

Cheers,
-Steve
 
Dubbin is my first choice and I have brought countless leather items back from the brink. It's a synthetic compound formulated to preserve leather work boots, it works and it's cheap.
Make sure the Dubbin and the items to be treated are warm. Sunshine works well. Coat the item/s in a layer of Dubbin. Don't bother to rub it in so much as slather it on. Leave it overnight in a WARM place and the leather will soak up what it needs. Wipe off the excess and rub in what's left. In severe cases repeat as necessary. Dubbin conditions the leather and leaves it waterproof,holding the moisture in as well as keeping it out.

Neatsfoot oil is a natural product, it goes rancid. I have a can in the saddle shop as a reminder never to use it again. The reason it's not widely used/available any more is there are better choices now.
If you can't find Dubbin...
Peanut oil is better than Neatsfoot oil for leather and like most things absorbs faster and better when warm. It's cheap, smells nice and doesn't go rancid. It is especially good when used to moisten dry leather before treating with Dubbin as the absorption is faster.
Saddle soap is for cleaning, the conditioning it does is a byproduct.
EXPECT the leather to be darker when you are done...it likely became gradually lighter as it dried out...

jmho fyoe

edit: the info I provided is for usin leather items like saddle scabbards and holsters. As stated above, if it's for lookin at, might wanna just look at it.
 
If you plan on handling/using the items, then certainly do something - once leather cracks or breaks, there is no fixing that. Not treating the leather + the oils from your hands getting into it is a bad combination. If it's going to sit in a display case and not be touched, leave it be.

In my leather shop, I recycle all kinds of old leathers - ammo pouches and rifle slings, etc from as far back as WWI. Luckily, those old leathers were all good quality, so there is usually some hope.

I've tried/have all the products mentioned above, I'm sure they would work fine if used properly. Personally, I've settled on a product called Leatherique. It's sold/marketed as a product for bringing back leathers in vintage cars, but ot works fine for my purpose. I oil a leather of some kind 3 or 4 times a week, and I find this to give the most consistent and efficiant results.

It works best in a warm situation not rushed, and if you can go in from the back of the leather (split side) it'll be more effective. I have an old 10 gal aquarium that I use - I oil the leather, put it in the aquarium and saran-wrap the top off, and put it in the sun for an afternoon. Works a treat. Developed it from the recommendations on bringing back old leather car seats, where they suggest oiling the leather and then shutting the car up for a day, in the sun.
 
I soaked my leather holsters in plain Hoppe's gun oil. Not sure if that's the best idea, but it made it soft, dark and pliable. Saddle soap works too, but I only use that on my boots.
 
When I was in the Army they would issue on a platoon level a 1 quart screw top can of army issue "leather dressing" to treat our boots after they had dried hard from repeated use in wet conditions. I remember using this product many times and it sure did soften up and water proof almost rock hard, heater dried leather boots. I have also heard that a lot of old timers in the country would steer clear of neatsfoot oil on their leather as it would attract mildew and rot the leather and stitching if the leather got wet regularly and also would attract insects to start eating away at the leather. Neatsfoot oil is made by boiling the fat/lard out of cattle feet/lower legs this is why it breaks down and will go rancid just like any lard/animal fat will.

I have been using fluidflim regularly now for years on my winter boots and it does an excellent job on softening and waterproofing the leather, it's main ingredient is lanolin and it is available at Canadian Tire.
 
Also forgot to mention you could try shaving cream, it usually has lanolin in it as well and is a well known way to break in and soften leather baseball gloves. Anything that is designed to soften our skin which is what leather is really, just animal skin, should work.
 
I agree with Steve1987. Before you put anything on your scabbard, read this; http:// w ww.lugerforum.com/holstercare.html. Luger collectors are very concerned about preserving leather goods, and many of the products suggested so far will likely damage the leather long term.
 
By far the best stuff I've ever used is Passier Lederbalsam. It's a paste leather conditioner that is made by the Passier saddle company from Germany (their dressage saddles start at $4500. Sadly, I know this because my wife has two of the GD things!). Absolutely fantastic stuff. Better than mink oil, snow seal, dubbin, neatsfoot, etc. You can get a tin of it at any high-end tack (equine supplies) store. Mail order it from Greenhawk if you want. Tin is orange and blue.
 
Leatherique is crazy stuff, the before and after pics I've seen of rejuvenated old leather car seats from 60's and 70's volvos and some Brit cars is unreal. Great product.
 
the11 said:
Going back to my days of cleaning and fixing saddles ...

All of the above suggestions are good ones. Neatsfoot oil is certainly the traditional stuff to use, though be warned: It might make the leather too floppy if you use too much. Ballistol works well, and lanolin I know about but have never used.

One other suggestion, especially if it needs to be cleaned is Glycerine soap. Just good old Pear's Glycerine bath soap will do, though there are various liquid glycerine saddle soaps in spray bottles on the market. Same stuff though.

I don't know how far the leather in question has gone over, but I have used the following method on old harness that was so dry and curled that I am sure it would have snapped in two if I bent it too far over. I put the harness in question straight into a water trough and let it soak for a couple of days. And then when it came out, I soaped it, soaped it, scrubbed it, rinsed it, and soaped it some more. While it was wet I also restitched the bits that needed it, but most of the thread was still good. Anyway, I did not rinse the final soaping out of it, but just let it dry in the shade. Then when it was dry(ish) I wiped it down with a light coat of pure neatsfoot oil. I won't say it was like new, because leather never is. But it was stiff enough, supple enough, and did not want to crack anymore when bent.

If your leathers are not so far gone as this, I would still use glycerine soap, but I would not soak the leather first.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! I like pears soap for my own personal "leather" too.... :)
 
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