Vegetable Tanned Natural Leather & Olive Oil..match made in heaven

[tnjyoung]

So recently I purchased a vegetable tanned Corter belt in a natural finish. When it arrived and I tried it on, it was just too "white" for me. I began to research how to darken leather and I ran across an old method where olive oil was used. Boy am I happy I did. Here is the result. It was fun, too.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Turned out great.
HD

 

[tnjyoung]

Turned out great.
HD

Thank you Hoosier. It is much more pliable now, too, which makes it feel vintage.

 

[handymike]

Looks great!
Thanks for the tip.

 

[mattface]

I make a paste from olive oil and beeswax. It's pretty much what I use on all heavier leathers.

 

[Bunyip]

Great result, wouldn't mind seeing a "before" picture?

 

[tnjyoung]

I make a paste from olive oil and beeswax. It's pretty much what I use on all heavier leathers.

That sounds like a winner. I read people's warnings about rancidity, but I am not too worried. Time will tell. My thoughts are that with wear the stain will stay, but the organic components of the oil will dissipate.

 

[tnjyoung]

Great result, wouldn't mind seeing a "before" picture?

Unfortunately I didn't take a before shot, but it looked like this:

 

[resortes805]

I picked up a hand-tooled natural leather wallet that I am letting nature takes its' course in building patina.

 

[mattface]

That sounds like a winner. I read people's warnings about rancidity, but I am not too worried. Time will tell. My thoughts are that with wear the stain will stay, but the organic components of the oil will dissipate.

I started using this on Brooks bicycle saddles about 6 years ago, when I was out of Proofide, and happened to have a big cake of beeswax on hand. I thought it sounded like a pretty good idea, so I looked it up and found that people had been using that mixture on tack and saddle leather for a long time. I've been applying it to all my bike seats a couple times a year ever since and never had any problem, and never been tempted to pay $12 for a little 25 gram tin of Proofide again.

 

[Feraud]

Olive oil is frequently used on veg tan leather to moisturize before or after dying. As you see it darkens natural leather a shade or two.
You should be good to go on that belt!

 

[Feraud]

I picked up a hand-tooled natural leather wallet that I am letting nature takes its' course in building patina.

I'd love to see a photo!

 

[tnjyoung]

Okay, I must admit, the photo I uploaded was taken just after the application of oil. It lightened about two shades by the end of the day. So I applied three additional coats of oil last night. Here is an updated photo from this morning.

 

[resortes805]

I'd love to see a photo!

As of right now, it just looks dirty, and not so much weathered! I'll give it a few months and see what it looks like.

 

[Feraud]

It should age nicely with handling.