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Skidmore's A Step Further

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Marshal Will Wingam:
I mentioned this in another thread and thought I'd do a quick post about it. When a project is completely finished (and wet molded if called for) the very last thing I do is apply a couple coats of Skidmore's Leather Cream. When the second coat is soaked in it's recommended that you buff it with a soft cotton cloth. At that point, the project is finished but sometimes I like to see a few more highlights in the leather so I take it one step further. I burnish the whole thing with a clean piece of typing (printer) paper. The result is just a slight increase in the sheen so it catches the light a little better. This is certainly not needed on all projects but I do find it useful on leather that doesn't have a lot of decoration on it. Here are a few examples as best I can represent with photos. The difference is subtle but noticeable.

These are burnished with paper for the final step:







Not burnished with paper:

1961MJS:
Hi
I hope this is helpful.  I tooled a 1 1/4 inch belt using Barry King Size 1 (smallest) Border: Hourglass Serpentine Smooth and used EVOO and Skidmore's.  The very small, and pointed tooling had dried Skidmore's in it when the Skidmore's dried on the belt.  I used Saddle Soap and an old tooth brush to get it out.  It's drying as I type.  The Border: Serpentine Size 3/4 (Second smallest single post) didn't result in the same problem.  It IS winter in Exciting Oklahoma, so maybe it dried differently, but I'd steer clear of Skidmore's on very detailed tooling.
later

Marshal Will Wingam:
I've never had that problem with Skidmore's. I put a couple very light coats on, with time in between for the first coat to soak in thoroughly. I don't put EVOO on it if I'm using Skidmore's, either. Perhaps the EVOO prevented the Skidmore's from soaking in. At least you got it done. You have a photo of that belt? It sounds interesting.

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Johnny McCrae:
On most of the Holsters I've made, I would put 3-4 coats of Pure Neets Foot Oil to get the desired color then follow up with 2-3 coats of Skidmore's. I made sure that the Neets dried thoroughly between coats. Never had a problem but most of my work only had border stamping, not fine tooling.

Marshal Will Wingam:
That's a handsome holster, John. Whatever you're doing, it works good.

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