Home Made Leather Dressing

classicbullwhips · Post by **classicbullwhips** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:22 pm

I have found a recipe for home made leather dressing and was woundering if this would be good/ok to use on a whip before I make some, it contains ivory soap, crisco, and water. Lets hear for the experts. James

deadringer · Post by **deadringer** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 6:00 am

Hi James
If you substitute the crisco for mutton/rendered sheep fat you would have a pretty good dressing/plaiting soap. Try to stay away from any of the oils .
Cheers
Chris
http://www.deadringer.com.au

thefish · Post by **thefish** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 10:05 am

Yes, Crisco Bad.

Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil that is then turned into a solid is no substitute for animal fat, (it's not really a good substitution for anything. Don't put it in my body, and don't put it on my whips.) For all of it's wonders, lard would probably be better than Crisco, and lard probably isn't that suitable either.

You might want to use beeswax as well, as maybe a substitution for the ivory soap for use as a dressing, (don't make whips, so I have no experience with plaiting soap.)

winrichwhips · Post by **winrichwhips** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 1:37 pm

I myself use a mixture of about one part ivory soap, one part lard, and one part water.

I know in Australia they prefer mutton fat, though it's not really common in the US. I was the a little worried about using lard, but that's what David Morgan uses in his plaiting soap, and he's been making whips since Jesus was in the third grade...

David's recipe for plaiting soap, as published in his book, is 2 pounds lard, 8 oz of soap (or about two bars, I think), and 24 oz water. I don't think he uses this as a leather dressing, just as plaiting soap. For leather dressing you'd probably be better off using a commercial product like Pecards.

-Adam
www.winrichwhips.com

classicbullwhips · Post by **classicbullwhips** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 2:41 pm

so what is the real diffrence between plaiting soap and leather dressing and when would you use each. I know that you use leather dressing to condition leather when it is getting dried out and to keep it soft and supple, but mainly what is plait soap used for and how and why do you use it. James

winrichwhips · Post by **winrichwhips** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 4:47 pm

Generally, plaiting soap is put on strands before braiding to help the strands slip over one another when the plaiting is pulled tight, so the plaiting can be pulled tighter than if they were dry. The water in the soap helps the strands stretch a little more during plaiting so they'll stretch less when the whip is used.

Leather dressing is used for conditioning and preserving leather, and can be used as plaiting soap, though it can be expensive.

When I'm braiding, I usually soap up the strands and then coat the core with leather dressing as I go, so the braided layer has some leather dressing on it's underside. Some put plaiting soap on the core.

-Adam

Paul_Stenhouse · Post by **Paul_Stenhouse** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 2:43 am

Another item of mention is that when using plaiting soap, which contains water, it helps to loosen up the leather. Thus, when it dries, it makes the leather shrink just ever so slightly. I think this assists in temporarily making the whip feel tighter when it first arrives to the owner.

Just my opinion, though.

Best Regards,

Paul Stenhouse