Softening Leather
 

I have a relatively new leather jacket and it seems to be taking an age to soften up. Is there any oil or lotion I can use to soften it up quicker?

Mink oil is popular for that. Good on boots too, if you want them to soften. If not, it's bad! :) Use a wax for waterproofing and an oil for softening and "feeding" dry leather.

I can't say I've ever seen mink oil for sale in the UK, but then I tend to live on the edges of the leather world so I may just not have noticed. :rolleyes2: What I do use on some of my stuff is Carrs Leather Oil and it's been very good. It brought a couple of pairs of shriveled up and dried out gloves back to everyday life and I slap it on my boots from time to time, especially after they've been rain soaked. Works best (ie soaks in fastest) if you warm it up slightly (25C or thereabouts).

I have dipped my toe into the world of mink and ordered some mink oil from eBay in the UK. Not as expensive as I imagined it would be £5.23 delivered. No free coat though.

One other oil I have had recommended is neatsfoot oil but this was caveated by someone saying that it may soften it up too much and it may compromise the protection of the leather.

I too am a diver and confirmed before I bought it that it was not from minke whales. It is from mink (no “e”) - the small weasel like creature that is raised for its pelt - better than whales, but it is marginal.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mink_oil

Well the mink oil arrived the other day and the jacket has had a single treatment - it sucked it in even though the jacket is quite new. It is difficult to tell if it is any softer yet but a couple more treatments will be done plus one on my old leather jeans to feed them.

I have to save some for my wife’s glare to see if it will soften that at all. I suspect that whilst it is good, it isn’t that good.

i don't want to know how they get oil from a mink.......:eek3: