Deerskin - The Troublesome Hide

[scotrace]

I have learned that each type of leather responds differently to differnt handling, care and treatment.
And that deerskin rebels against just about any standard practice!

I have a pair of very nice unlined dress deerskin gloves from LL Bean. They began life a few years ago as a beautiful tan. The reminded me of the gloves one sees in Esquire illustrations. Great stuff. A slight pebble grain, beautiful stitching.
But over time (not much time) they got soiled from handling keys, coins, steering wheels, luggage, etc. Soiled enough to take action.
And, panicking at the result, another action. Eeek. Another action, and another, trying to get them "right."
Just about anything you might use to clean or moisturize deerskin will make it gummy, sticky and a mess. They are, after beeing glopped up with every leather preparation known to man, pretty much ruined.

Anyone have any magic for caring for deerskin leather? Please share and spare some other poor sot my sordid fate.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

.

Coincidentally enough, I have those gloves also, though mine are lined with rabbit fur. My solution has been to buy a new pair at the start of each season. [huh]

 

[scotrace]

Coincidentally enough, I have those gloves also, though mine are lined with rabbit fur. My solution has been to buy a new pair at the start of each season. [huh]

I am too parsimonious to behave so profligately.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

.

Truth be told, it's my mom's standard present for me each Christmas: LL Bean gift certificate.

 

[Spellflower]

I have one of those gloves too. The other, alas, disappeared between the winter I bought it and the following autumn.

Instead of buying a new pair when the one you have wears out, why not send them back to L.L.Bean and ask for a replacement? Their guarantee is legendary, and I've heard of them replacing thoroughly used items for far less reason than that they deteriorated after just one season of average use.

It is too bad to hear that they don't hold up, though. I'd thought about replacing my lost one (oh what the heck, why not buy a whole new pair!), but will have to reconsider. As luxurious as they are, I am ascetically opposed to owning items which place a premium on form at the expense of function. i wouldn't, for example, be interested in a hat which would be irreparably ruined by a little rain, no matter how good it looked on me, and how soft the felt was. I'm much more impressed by the kind of quality that is both attractive and durable.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Thanks for the warning.

I almost bought an A2 jacket made of deer skin on ebay recently. I was hesitant so I didn't bid on it. Deer skin is just too thin for most applications maybe? [huh]

 

[carebear]

I almost bought an A2 jacket made of deer skin on ebay recently. I was hesitant so I didn't bid on it. Deer skin is just too thin for most applications maybe? [huh]

It certainly won't stop a Buick. lol

Where's my moosehide outerwear? Those suckers'll stop a train!

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I hear ya.

I've hit 2 deer now in the last 7 or 8 years. Almost got 2 more on my way home from work this evening! I'm glad there are no mooses on my streets. lol

 

[carebear]

I've hit 2 deer now in the last 7 or 8 years. Almost got 2 more on my way home from work this evening! I'm glad there are no mooses on my streets. lol

The plural is "meese".

 

[scotrace]

.

It isn't that they aren't durable - these have no obvious wear, etc. They are quite durable. It's just that this hide doesn't respond to cleaning or treatment with:
Saddle Soap
Lexol
Leather Balsam
Leather CPR
Pecards
Glycerine

I don't know of any way to care for them that doesn't make them darker or sticky. I would have been better off to just leave them alone.

It isn't the gloves, it is my ham-handed efforts to treat them.

 

[BellyTank]

What about non-gloopy treatments...

Try white spirit, or another "suede cleaning, household solvent"- instead of the goopy, gloopy.

B
T

 

[John in Covina]

Screwed? Try GOOP! The secret weapon.

Just about anything you might use to clean or moisturize deerskin will make it gummy, sticky and a mess. They are, after being glopped up with every leather preparation known to man, pretty much ruined.

Anyone have any magic for caring for deerskin leather? Please share and spare some other poor sot my sordid fate.

**************
GOOP! I can't say if this will work for your deerskin or not but if the gloves are "ruined" then you won't be any worse off.

GOOP is a mechanic's hand cleaner that removes dirt, stains, grease and oil very well but has some lanolin type stuff so your hands don't get wrecked. Just check that it is the type WITHOUT grit!

This will remove many stains and any greasy or oily build up, but you must rinse with water, just don't fear, you may need to repeat a few times. I'd suggest you may stuff the insides of the glove with paper and allow to dry without heat assistance so they keep their shape better. The lanolin tends to keep the leather pliable even after extensive rinsing with warm to hot water.

My straight razor friends use Goop for cleaning their newly found: used, antique and vintage strops with good results. If the leather is falling apart it can't save it, but dirty stained and /or very dried out, Goop often restores the strop.

Light colored leather may darken a little, but it will get a lot of the gunk out.

Goop! it's a hand cleaner, no it's a leather restorer! Wait, it's both!

Also if you have a grease or oil stains on clothes like jeans, using Goop as your stain treatment will work wonders on the stain, but you may need to wash and rinse several times. It can reduce some very old oil stains too.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Sounds like deer leather is very porous and just soaks up anything that's put on it. I have a pair of welding gloves at my workplace that are deer skin. Very thin skin compared to other animal hides, but it is a split suede.
The deer skin A2 jacket I saw on ebay looked as if it were thin also by the look of the drape, almost like cloth, not leather. I almost bought it just for the novelty of it, but the price got jacked up too high.

 

[pablocham]

You can clean some types of deer skin with vegetable soap and water or just water.

 

[indyjim]

I have an unlined pair of deerskin gloves that are 25+ years old. I wore them,
years ago, as warm weather motorcycle gloves and since then, whenever my
hands were too sweaty in warm weather for a good grip on the wheel or when the weather was just a little chilly. I cleaned them by simply wearing them and washing my hands over and over with regular bar hand soap until they were as clean as I could get them. (never back to original, of course. They were far too dirty for that) I did have to rinse them a lot as it seemed the soap made them slimy, but once rinsed and dried, I put them back on, stretched them out a bit and they were just as soft and supple as ever. I still carry them in my Jeep and wear them whenever light gloves are needed.

 

[JDCrockett]

While it may be too late for those gloves, I remember hearing that putting
gloves on and rubbing them with a hand washing motion with DRY oatmeal
will often clean gloves. The other thing I've seen is this clay ball that is for cleaning white buckskin(with a sueded texture I assume) but is reasonable enough to be worth a try:
http://www.crazycrow.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=6508-000-001&Category_Code=
Probably worth a try for our white Buck shoes too huh? I'll have to send for one myself!

 

[Happy Stroller]

I just love deerskin mocassins. They really help increase feet sensitivity and decrease the danger of falling down the stairs.

However, after walking up and down the stairs, the soles have grown darker. I'm going to use Light Tan shoe wax and see what happens.

BTW, has anyone tried plain soap?