Cod Liver Oil

[33rdaladrummer]

I got part of an old dried out hide in a trade. In an attempt to revive it a little, I applied a couple light coats of cod liver oil, being careful not to let it soak through. I thought the smell might go away after a couple months, but it has gotten worse. Anyone have any experience with this? Is there any way to get the smell out? I think the hide was veg tan from Tandy Leather.

[Becky Morgan]

If someone with better experience chimes in, disregard me, but I'd be inclined to get drastic and give it a good cleaning with saddle soap, then try a different means of softening it. I've never had cod liver oil lose its smell on leather unless it was descented to begin with.

Worth thinking about, too: some "dried-out" leather is really either dirty or it's been wet and let dry without any care. Cleaning is a good first step to getting it workable again. After that, see if you can find a period-correct (if need be) leather dressing and handle it according to what you want to make.

[Rufus]

Will, I may have some information you seek in a few books at home. I am at work until Monday however, and will not be able to look until then. I also have a recipe for a period leather dressing that works really well.

[Curt Schmidt]

Hallo!

You may have luck with Dawn dish soap. Saddle Soap will help, bu ti am not sure it will or can remove teh fish stink. Saddle soap is NUG a mile soap combined with an oil such as neatsfoot oil, glycerin, and lanolin so it will clean as well as lube/preserve/maintain and soften.

However, as shared there is a differecen between leather that is dried out due to age. And then there is leather that was wet and reverted back to "rawhide."

If you wet the leather to deoil it, you may have to break it down and resoften it again, before adding moisture back to it when dry in the form of grease or oil based products.

Remember too, that over oiling/greasing leather can also be destruction as it swells the skin cells causing them to move out ofproper alignment or to the point of bursting and ruining the leather through cracking, flaking, or portions falling out or going mushy.

Curt

[33rdaladrummer]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I will probably try dish soap and then use with neatsfoot. The leather isn't dried out too badly. The cod liver oil did work fine, and the smell wouldn't be too bad for strictly outdoor use, but I'm making drum ears out of this leather and most people want to store them indoors. I had a set of ears I made in a room with the door shut and the smell was pretty bad. I guess I went for the cod liver oil because I got a small bottle for around $5 and I recall 100% neatsfoot being much more expensive. I wouldn't recommend the cod liver oil for anyone who stores leather items indoors!

[3alabama]

You can order neatsfoot oil and other leather care products direct from an approved vendor Duvall Leatherworks http://duvallleatherwork.com/-strse-...Categories.bok

[David Jarnagin]

“However, as shared there is a difference between leather that is dried out due to age. And then there is leather that was wet and reverted back to "rawhide."

“If you wet the leather to de-oil it, you may have to break it down and re-soften it again, before adding moisture back to it when dry in the form of grease or oil based products.”

Curt and all,

First of all please note that he did say it vegetable tanned leather. This takes the discussion in only one direction.

I think I may know what you going to say but to turn the leather back into rawhide you will need to de-tan it. This can be done with extended exposure to water which will leach the tannin out of the piece over time. This can be fixed thru re-tanning and I have done it to some shoes and boots found in an old well.

Vegetable tanned leather was designed to be wet and dried over and over again and that is one of the reasons the Ordnance Departments on both sides only wanted this leather for equipment.

Now for the subject at hand, moisture is what is needed not oil, but in order to get the moisture in the leather you need both at the same time. Sorry but there is a little science part here. In order to get the oil where you need it is in the fibers the leather must be wet first and then oiled and the oil will oxidize and penetrate into the leather fibers. First you clean the leather with saddle soap or good leather soap and then oil (I have already sent a PM to the starter of the thread with the information he needs). Do not use dish soaps or other soaps that have a high PH level. Please keep in mind when dealing with vegetable tanned leathers that the PH level needs to be between 3.5 - 5.5. If you use a very high base as a soap this will raise the PH too high do damage that cannot be repaired.

A word of warning on cod liver oil please heed this warning! Cod liver oil and linseed oil should have the same warning about fire. Cod liver oil is a rapid oxidizing oil and heat can and will build up. Please use with caution when applying this oil and it is really best when mixed with another oil such as tallow or neat’s-foot oil.

I hope this helps
David Jarnagin
Leather researcher and conservator.

[tater]

Baseball glove conditioner (I have Nokona brand) will do wonders on dried up leather, if the problem arises again. As to smell... I'm afraid I can't help you there.

[Rufus]

Will, I found this method for cleaning kid gloves in Beadle‘s Recipe Book. You could give it a try, it certainly wont hurt anything. Dip a piece of flannel into milk and then rub onto a piece of brown soap. Then commence to rubbing the leather. When done, allow it to dry then stretch the leather.
I am assuming that brown soap is just simple lye soap. I could not find a reference for it in the book.