sheen or not to sheen

[geordie jones]

is it pecards that gives a whip its sheen. I have just purchased a whip (10ft 12plait light kangaroo hide) from bernie w in australia but its got that dull look at the moment. I know that the colour will change with use. I have been informed that if you buff up the leather it wont attract the dirt and grime as much. Is it better to have a sheen on the leather or not?

[Sergei]

Well if the leather is dull looking, Pecards will put a shine on. Usually new whips are shellacked with a light coating, that often look very shiny. The shellack is used primarily for sealing in the oils inside of a brand new whip. But come to think of it, Bernie does not use shellack. Bottom line, don't be too worried on the sheen. Just condition the leather lightly when needed. There has been about 3 recent threads on whip care, so maybe you can read up there of when to condition.

I hope this helps.

-Sergei

[The_Edge]

Shellac is used for two purposes. When applied it soaks into the raw edges of the strands and helps seal them up agains dirt and moisture. Second, it makes the finished whip look real pretty. David Morgan, Joe Strain, Terry Jacka and Paul Stenhouse are just a few, but not all, that put shellac on their finished whips. I recently started putting it on my whips and it does make them look very nice compared to the dullness of the original leather. However, shellac is not necessary and not all whip makers use it. Over time, with use, the coating will flake off the whip and this is normal. About the last 3 to 4 feet of whip will start to look dull because the coating has broke off from all the heavy flexing happening.

Somethings to keep in mind... When you get a brand new whip with out shellac you want to give it a good coating of leather dressing before using it. If the dressing soaks in right away then give it another coat and let it sit for a day or so.
A brand new whip with shellac should only need a very light coating of dressing at first in order to soak into any uncoated areas. Most of the dressing will not soak in and you will be wiping off the excess. This is because the shellac acts as a protective shell and won't let the dressing in. Once you've done some cracking you'll want to give the whip another light coat of dressing starting at the point and working your way up the thong. Most of the flexing will take place at the point so that is where the shellac will start to flake off first. Give a new whip with shellac a light coating of dressing every week for three or four weeks. A light coat is important. You don't need a lot. After that you'll be good to go for a few months.

Here is something I know that Sergei was interested in knowing. After you have treated a whip (with or with out shellac) with Pecards it is unnecessary and a waste to reapply more shellac at a later date. One of the whips that I made (roo hide) I dressed with Pecards and then took it hiking. A few weeks later, after much use and dressing, I decided to give it a coat of shellac as an experiment. The shellac did stick to the whip but it didn't soak in at all because the Pecards repelled it. The shellac dried and gave the whip a nice shine but it easily flakes off and is completely useless. Also, since the whip dirty (rain and mud in Maui) the glossy coat accentuated all the stains. It didn't affect the use of the whip but with the ease of it flaking off it doesn't make the whip look all that pretty. Since I made this whip and kick the crud out of it on hikes anyway I didn't really care. But I don't recommend trying this with your very expensive Morgan's or Strain's.

-Kyle

[geordie jones]

Thanks for the info. With living in the UK I need to find a good leather dressing since we in the UK do not have pecards at our disposal. If there are any indy fans in the uk who have used a good UK based dressing, let me know.

[IndyPip]

Here are a couple of sites in the UK with leather dressing products.

I cannot recommend any, but if someone from the US could have a quick look and tell us which ones seem to be the same type of product as Pecards, it might help us UK-heads.

http://www.denewear.co.uk/shop.cfm?productid=21

http://www.horse1st.com/acatalog/Horse1 ... E__18.html
(This one has loads of Mars stuff - what is dressing compared to leather food?)

http://www.countrysupplies.com/dept.asp?dept_id=391
(Has a brand called Ko-Cho)

As with Geordie, any recommendations for a UK supplier would be great.

[Sergei]

Thanks Kyle, on the re-shellacking question I had been pondering. Stupid idea, but the context was that maybe the strands would tighten up around the areas where I was seeing some gaps in the handle-thong junction area. I think you may remember which whip(s) I was concerned about.

Bernie doesn't use shellack, so like Kyle said, brand new whips need some extra conditioning care in the beginning. But again, like Kyle said, very light applications go a long way. It is possible to overcondition.

-Sergei

[The_Edge]

Geordi and Pip,

I'm not familiar with the leather dressing available in the UK so I can't help you there. When looking for a leather dressing avoid anything that says it uses natural ingredients such as animal lard or neatsfoot oil. Natural ingredients will eventually start to turn rancid. It will give your whip and other leather items a bad smell and will actually rot the leather over time. This is why I think Pecards is such a great product because it will not go rotten and destroy the leather.

-Kyle