Leather is a great material but like most things it does need a little maintenance every now and again. With time and usage leather will start to dry out - going stiff and eventually cracking.
To keep on top of that you need to apply something that conditions the leather and gives it a little surface protection as well.
I've been playing with different versions of what I'm calling our Leather Grease for awhile. I was looking to achieve a balm type consistency and only use natural ingredients.
Leather conditioners of this type aren't difficult to make and a search on the internet will pull up various recipes.
Ours contains three main ingredients - Sweat Almond Oil, Cocoa Butter and Beeswax. These are mixed in a 2:1:1 ratio (incase you'd like to make it yourself.) This gives the consistency in the tin I was after and a nice finish on the leather.
I also add a small amount of Lanolin to improve the water repellency and some Pink Grapefruit extract. The grapefruit smell isn't strong and mainly balances out the odour of the other ingredients.
The Leather Grease is sold in a kit which also contains the following;
- a small application brush.
- a lint free cloth for polishing off
- a small black cotton bag to keep your kit together in.
The Leather Grease is supplied in a 25 ml aluminium tin.
Almond oil is extracted from a nut so I would avoid if you have any form of nut allergy. Lanolin is extracted from sheep wool.
Application.
- Make sure the leather is clean and dry.
- Apply a small amount of the Leather Grease with the supplied brush. A little goes a long way.
- Allow it to be absorbed into the leather.
- Use the cloth to buff the surface of the leather. More effort will give you a higher level of polish.
This product will darken the appearance of most leathers, especially if they are very dry to start with. Test on a small area first if you are worried. It will look really dark initially but will lighten as it dries.
