Club Obi Wan

Just curious, will a natural tan hide roo whip darken, basically "sun tan" if layed out in the sun for a while? How long? An hour? Two? Any of you whipmakers know if this will damage a whip? I know what sun does to leather, shrinkage, drying, etc, but only for a couple hours and then condition with pecards? Just wondering.

TR

TR, if its Vegetable or Bark tanned natural kangaroo (or even cow hide) hide then, yes. That’s basically why natural tan whips get darker over time. Even saddle tan and whiskey kangaroo will continue to darken in sunlight. How much and how long is subjective to various conditions, time of day, cloud cover, leather dressing, even the leather itself, so there is no set time limit, though its not uncommon for folks with new natural tan whips to say, it darkened up a bit more just after using it outdoors for an hour or two. On an already warm day, The heat of the sun will also melt the oils in the leather dressing and both allow it to permeate the leather faster which can accelerate the whip darkening,( though usually just temporarily ) or cause the oils to render out faster

While I don’t recommend trying to purposely darken a whip by leaving it lay out in the sunlight, at least not for extended periods of time. I’ve never known of a whip to be physically damaged by doing so.

Dan

Just use it, time is your friend ;D

BullWhipBorton wrote:Even saddle tan and whiskey kangaroo will continue to darken in sunlight.

Dan

Brandy is the other colour that will continue to darken...

I had a natural one on the outside of a roll of ten get sun burnt once the roll was catching a bit of sun from a window in the workshop had to use that one for belly plaiting so it wasn't a total loss.....not a mistake I've made since considering the price of roo hide

Tony

Thanks for all the insights, guys!

TR