I want to offer some products for leather care that I use professionally. Some of these products you may be aware of; others may be new. A lot of the leather care products are geared towards saddles/equine industy and may be regional and not readily available. As I grow, I will offer more products and also try to more educate you on their uses. I will start with the Ray Holes products. Ray Holes was a saddle maker from Idaho who came up with his own recipes when he could not find other products to his liking. His first products came out in 1938 so they have been tested. Cowboys, outfitters, guides and loggers to name a few have come to rely on these products to maintain their leather gear in heavy use situations and extreme climate changes. So lets take a look at these two products.
First, let's talk about Saddle Butter. This product gives needed nutrients to the both old and new leather. It's great for boots, sheaths, scabbards or anything leather. It will darken slightly. It has ingredients including bee's wax, carnauba wax (very expensive), tallows and PURE neatsfoot oil to name a few. It penetrates well with the warmth of hand rubbing. This product will water proof and condition. It comes in a 14 oz. jar and is $12.00 plus shipping and Pay pal. Also gallon tub at $90.00 plus shipping.
Next we have Dri-Boot waterproofing. This product is wonderful. No matter what kind of conditioner you use on your boots or heavy use leather, it needs to be sealed. This product does just that. This is a harder blended wax product. The carnauba wax really gives it a good finish. All leather that is oiled or conditioned needs to be sealed. Oiling leather does not mean it will keep water and other elements out and without sealing in these nutrients, they will be leached out by the environment. I use this over the top of Saddle Butter. All new products I build are oiled or conditioned and then sealed, EVERYTHING! This should be done to every new pair of boots because the manufacture does none of this; the leather is basically naked. Because this product is harder, you will need to either heat in the microwave or use a hair dryer as it lays on the leather to liquefy it. Once it penetrates it solidifies and you buff the rest to a polished finish. Once applied, it lasts longer than any product I have used. It even works well for finishing do-it-yourself projects. It comes in a 6 oz. jar and is $11.00 plus shipping and Pay Pal.
I hope this helps shed some light on leather care and how these products can be used. If anyone would like more info on different types of leather and how to care for them let me know. If there is enough interest I would work on some type of education program. So just give me a pm to let me know.
Thanks Scott