Best way to restore hardened leather?

[Falstaff]

Having spent the day gettting soaked on a roof, instead of going to the Maker Moot , my favourite wide leather belt dried out all misshappen and hard/fragile like cardboard. I've let a coat of shoe "leather cream" soak in on both sides of the belt and it has restored it a bit.
What's the best way to restore it to its former straight and supple state please?

 

[Tengu]

soak in more cream

 

[William_Montgomery]

Extra virgin olive oil works well to replace the natural oils in dried out leather.

 

[British Red]

The best way is neatsfoot oil. It's the softening component of most leather treatment like saddle soap & leather cream. It's amazing stuff so use sparingly.

https://amzn.to/4i5pubX

 

[John Fenna]

I too trust neatsfoot oil. You can get it in many equine suppliers - often blended with lard and other elements that also help leather, as "Neatsfoot Compound".

I use lard and neatsfoot oil and wax as the basis of my home made dubbin which feeds leather and protects it.

 

[William_Montgomery]

I use lard and neatsfoot oil and wax as the basis of my home made dubbin which feeds leather and protects it.

Likewise, I use a mix of neatsfoot oil and beeswax. Great stuff for all sorts of applications.

 

[William_Montgomery]

This stuff is good too. I use it quite a lot.

 

[bobnewboy]

Fiebing’s Mink Oil.

 

[Chris]

Worth noting that neatsfoot oil can quite significantly darken leather, just in case that’s an issue. It does make it lovely and soft, though.

 

[Stew]

This stuff is good too. I use it quite a lot.
View attachment 99379

It's my favourite! Smells so good.

 

[GeoffWood]

My recommendation would be something like Sedgwicks Leather treatment (made from tallow, natural oils and beeswax)
Wet leather should be dried slowly without heat.
Be very careful using Neatsfoot oil. It soaks in fast and can turn the leather "mushy" if over applied

 

[HillBill]

All of the replies above refer to keeping treated leather supple, which is fine... before your belt got to that stage. The fact that happened means it hasn't been sealed properly.

Soak the whole thing in warm to hot water. Not too hot, if you cant keep your hand in in it indefinitely, its too hot, Leave it in for half hour. Take it out, lay it out flat, and put weight on it. Dont need much, A good sized hard back book with something heavier on top etc... but make sure there is weight across the entire length of the belt, as while it dries, it will want to pull/contract in more than one direction. Don't let it do that. That's kinda the important bit. Once dry, you need to nourish it. I prefer a mink oil/pine tar product (Red Wing) but its not the cheapest. I just have it for my leather boots as it keeps them supple.

Once nourished, you'll want to seal it. Boot dubbing, wax products, carnauba cream etc will all work.

A lot of the recommendations above are fine for the sealing, some good for nourishing, but none will fix the problem as described alone. That problem was a poorly nourished and sealed belt to begin with.

 

[HillBill]

Extra virgin olive oil works well to replace the natural oils in dried out leather.

Olive oil goes rancid over time. I would suggest not using it for anything other than culinary purposes if you want the item in question to last.

 

[William_Montgomery]

Olive oil goes rancid over time. I would suggest not using it for anything other than culinary purposes if you want the item in question to last.

It works fine for leatherwork. Like any oil, it can go rancid given the right conditions. But, it's highly unlikely to happen when used for conditioning leather. In over ten years of doing leatherwork, I've never had a problem with it.

 

[Danceswithhelicopters]

Some fine advice from HillBill there. Look to the old solutions and well thought out and mixed oils that saddlers or cobblers would have used. They lived by the maintenance of leather goods that only died with the advent of post war plastic goods. Neats foot has its place as does dubbin, good wax polish and restorative oils and waxes.

I don't have your belt so can only offer what has worked for me...Redwing mink oil, Renapur (which I really rate but it all depends on your finish and leather quality) German Erdal wax polish to finish (loads of beeswax)

 

[HillBill]

It works fine for leatherwork. Like any oil, it can go rancid given the right conditions. But, it's highly unlikely to happen when used for conditioning leather. In over ten years of doing leatherwork, I've never had a problem with it.

After 6+ months its starts to deteriorate (oxidise), as it does so it damages the leather. It will start breaking down the fibres in the leather itself. Thats my understanding of it anyway. Same reason i wouldnt use to it oil a knife handle, though with knife handles another issue is that it doesn't polymerise. Walnut oil is a better option for knife handles if you need food safe.

If your experience is different with Olive oil (as i said, i've never used it, i was just warned not to use it) then fair enough. 10 years is enough time to know if it works or not. I've made over 800 sheaths plus belts and other stuff since 2009 when i started knifemaking. I know leather well enough i think. But as i said, i never used olive oil.

Though now i'm curious... which do you prefer? Spanish, Greek, Italian? When it comes to food, i'm a Spanish guy, lol.

 

[HillBill]

Some fine advice from HillBill there. Look to the old solutions and well thought out and mixed oils that saddlers or cobblers would have used. They lived by the maintenance of leather goods that only died with the advent of post war plastic goods. Neats foot has its place as does dubbin, good wax polish and restorative oils and waxes.

I don't have your belt so can only offer what has worked for me...Redwing mink oil, Renapur (which I really rate but it all depends on your finish and leather quality) German Erdal wax polish to finish (loads of beeswax)

Big fan of Redwing mink oil. Love the smell of it. ( i'm referring to the liquid form in the metal can that's mixed with pine pitch, rather than the more solid form in the shoe polish type tin)

 

[William_Montgomery]

After 6+ months its starts to deteriorate (oxidise), as it does so it damages the leather. It will start breaking down the fibres in the leather itself. Thats my understanding of it anyway. Same reason i wouldnt use to it oil a knife handle, though with knife handles another issue is that it doesn't polymerise. Walnut oil is a better option for knife handles if you need food safe.

If your experience is different with Olive oil (as i said, i've never used it, i was just warned not to use it) then fair enough. 10 years is enough time to know if it works or not. I've made over 800 sheaths plus belts and other stuff since 2009 when i started knifemaking. I know leather well enough i think. But as i said, i never used olive oil.

Though now i'm curious... which do you prefer? Spanish, Greek, Italian? When it comes to food, i'm a Spanish guy, lol.

I think any concern about oils going rancid tend to be more to do with long-term storage and much larger pieces, like saddles etc. Though, I suspect it's got more to do with the method of storage rather than the oil itself.
Whoever said 'deterioration after 6 months' was probably referring to stored goods. For anything being used, it's more likely the oils would have dissipated by that point and need replacing.

Personally, I use neatsfoot oil more than EVOO. Though I have used EVOO a fair bit in the past and have never experienced any problems, certainly no deterioration of the leather.

I got the impression the OP wasn't a leatherworker and probably wouldn't have a bottle of neatsfoot lying around, hence the initial recommendation for EVOO.