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[Dieselhen]

Renapur is a good leather treatment - nourishes and waterproofs leather. I originally bought a pot of it at the Scone Game Fair, but it's also sold on Amazon. (And it doesn't smell ghastly either.)

[AlexB]

Sorry to hijack - Hope you are well Sheila

[samuria]

 thanks for all the replies even the silly ones,,,,,,,,,

[agg221]

Leather is supple because the fibres can slide over one another. They do this because they are lubricated by fats and oils. When the oils dry out, they can no longer slide and the leather becomes stiff. The fibres themselves are not that flexible so if they are too locked in place and you bend the leather it cracks.

There are many different oils which will do the job, all slightly differently as they also do other things better/less well too.

The first step is to get it really clean, without damaging the leather. This means not flexing it as you clean. The dirt is usually fairly near the surface so you don't want to soak it further in, but that said if there are stains which have gone deep it won't hurt to saturate it, once. Soft soap in water is pretty good, as is isopropyl alcohol (as found in hand sanitiser), followed by a water rinse until clean (but make sure it is dirt not dye which is coming off). Both will remove some oils so applying glycerine (available from Tesco or similar) while the surface is still damp is a good way to reduce the risk of cracking. After that, which oil is largely a matter of choice. Neatsfoot has a particular smell and darkens the leather. A mix of beeswax and lanolin (available from your local chemist or from Ebay) leaves no visible effect and is more waterproofing, but doesn't penetrate so far. Mink oil gives the best flexibility and doesn't affect the colour, but is not very waterproof so a surface treatment would then be advisable.

Avoid anything with silicone in it - it will eventually degrade and stop working, and is a nightmare to get back out.

Alec

[Smokey 11a]

I use Coconut oil on the Dogs leads and collars, works a treat, smells nice as well.

[samuria]

that's more good info thanks 

[Wittsend]

Dubbin is the stuff ...

We used to smoother/rub it in to our football boots.


(This was my Grandmother's tin from just before WWII and passed to me. Still plenty left.)

To come back to Land Rovers - It's highly recommended that you pre-treat and waterproof your swivel gaiters before fitting.

IIRC the official Land Rover instructions say to rub plenty of Vaseline into the leather.
I'm thinking Dubbin or one of the other leather treatments might be a better option


 

[samuria]

 alan i've got two tins just like that one black which were my grandad's he used
it on his ARP boots 

[Growler]

I do my leather jackets and stuff with dubbin.