Mink Oil

[akmnstr]

It is way past time to do something about the drying of my leathers.  My wife picked up some mink oil and has offered to treat my gear.  I said awesome.  But I am concerned about using mink oil.  A search here on the DMF reveal a few hits but not a full blown discussion.  A google search found several sites that said the stuff is crap and you should buy our product. I didn't find a truly objective evaluation.

For what it is worth my gear is First Racing jacket and pants made of Buffalo Leather in an India sweat shop.  At the time of purchase my saleswoman assured me the workers in the shop were all at least 12 years old.  I have no recommendations from the manufacturer on treatment.   

Your thoughts and experiences would be very helpful!

[stopintime]

I used it on a friend's very dry jacket. Easy to work with, applying evenly with a sponge.
After a few days it kind of dried and left a few white patches. We warmed it up with a hair dryer and rubbed it in again. It worked fine. This product was bought in a shoe store, so it might have been easier to get good results with a more fluid type of oil. Ours was more like a wax.

[LowThudd]

I've used it before, works fine. I have worked with leather since high school(made boots, pouches etc). I recently bought a bottle from http://www.jaminleather.net/. It is not the more waxy type that I have seen before.

[triangleforge]

I'd have thought they sold bear grease in every corner market up there...

Did a quick Google to confirm my suspicion that mink oil isn't a trade name, but an oil derived from, well, minks. Beeswax seems to be the most common thing to blend it with to come up with a solid/paste (at room temperature).

My experience with mink oil products (the paste kind, not the liquid kind that LowThudd mentions) is mostly with leather boots and things that don't flex as much as a jacket -- on boots, I notice that it will sometimes squeeze out and cake up across the flex points like across the tops of the toes -- which is probably mostly beeswax. Doesn't do that as much as Snow Seal (a petroleum-based product which seems thicker than Mink Oil, IIRC), and it's not something that would cause me a lot of worry.

Whenever I used either product, I got a lot better penetration when the leather was warm; on boots, I'd warm the oven at the lowest setting, turn it off and then watch the thermometer until it dropped to around 150 to put the boots in. A jacket would be trickier and possibly not worth the bother since the leather's not as thick and you're not really aiming for water-proof.

I'd say go for it -- unlike some of the other leather treatment products out there, it'll give you at least some water resistance (which would have to be handy in Anchorage), and best of all, you've already got it on hand thanks to your lovely wife!

[hoyden]

I've always liked Lexol for leather conditioning.

I've not had a lot of experience with Mink Oil and please someone correct me if this is an old wives tale, but I have always heard that Mink Oil is bad to use because it breaks down the thread that is holding the leather pieces together. It's been years... so my memory could easily be off.

Regardless, I quite like Lexol and have used it for many many years.
I recently soaked my dad's old, dry, cracked leather belt and it's now supple and wearable.
A diver acquaintance of mine had an old leather harness he'd been using for 20+ years. He would come out of the salt-water and drop the harness in a bucket of Lexol. Thing was in great shape.

YMMV

[battlecry]

The most popular leather conditioners in the Curios & Relics collector groups are Pecard's, Lexol, and an expensive microcrystalline wax product (Renaissance).   These guys need their leather products to last for decades, which may not be the case for motorcycling leathers.  Pecard's products are probably not any more expensive than others in the field.  Lexol is available everywhere, and a little microcrystalline wax goes a long way.  I have not had any of those products turn rancid on me.

[rumble]

I use 100% mink oil and pine pitch that I get from Foxcreek Leather. This is what they suggest for their leathers. 2 years on my jacket - hot, cold, sun and rain - feels better than the day I got it. So, I guess I'd say it works 

http://www.foxcreekleather.com/108.html

[akmnstr]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.  What about cleaning leather before treating it.  An favorite products?

[battlecry]

Fiebings

http://www.fiebing.com/Leather_Care.aspx

or Lexol

[KnightofNi]

i use mink oil on my gloves and boots and they have stayed mostly waterproof over 3 years since the application. never tested the warterproofness of the jacket though. it takes a few days for the stuff to dry properly, but that's my only complaint.


as for cleaning, i have always used a cloth dampened with lightly soapy water to clean my leather.

[mraff]

How old are the "drying" leathers?

[corey]

mink oil is good stuff, but nowadays most brands are a synthetic petrol based product. they work great, but i have seen some bad things happen with stitching and seems that see mink oil, and shortly after application find themselves in direct heat or sunlight. i use minkoil, but avoid seems and stitching if i can, and do make sure it dries properly, and not under heat.

For cleaning, saddle soap always works wonders... has done well since the wild west

[DoubleEagle]

I have used Lexol leather cleaner and conditioner ( all the same product ), for probably 35 years .

I buy it at Auto Parts stores for like $11 and just use a Sponge , spray it on the Sponge several times and then wipe the leather .

I use it on my Dainese leather riding Jackets , Pants and Suits.

Also on my leather riding Gloves .

As far as cleaning leather.

When I'm done w, a ride I take a
sponge w, cold water and wipe off my leathers to get the Bugs and Dirt off and then towel off the leather , then apply the Lexol and put it away after wiping out the liner w, the Sponge w, water, then toweling dry.

I would never use Mink Oil because all the leather Hiking boots ( Scarpa, La Sportiva, Lowa, Zamberlan ) I have had from Italy say no Mink Oil as well as the famous Italian leather Company ( Dainese ) .

Dolph        

[The Architect]

I have used Lexol leather cleaner and conditioner ( all the same product ), for probably 35 years .

Lexol is the way to go. 

[danaid]

 I use Leather Masters two step system, strong cleaner and than follow up with the protection cream. These products and the two step cleaning and protecting process are recommended by many leather manufactures. This is also the same stuff that Dainese uses as their leather cleaning product.