If you read the discussion you'll find that Michaelson used this new product on his Alden's with excellent results in darkening the leather. I have done the same with my boots and concur with his results.
What I really ordered the new brown Pecard's for was to see if it could be used to darken up the color of a natural tan bullwhip made of kangaroo hide. It seems that many folks want their whip to darken up rather quickly and sometimes use methods that can be harmful to the overal life of the whip. I figured that maybe using this new product would bring about similar results while at the same time conditioning and protecting the leather. Here is what I found.
On August 9th I cut a piece of natural tan kangaroo hide out of a large scrap that I had. I then cut that large piece into three separate swatches. This was important so that there were no differences in color or age. Each of these swatches was untreated and light tan (See "Control" swatch above) in color. I used one as a control which would not be treated with any dressing. The one in the middle I treated with a heavy coat of the new brown dressing. The last one I treated with the colorless classic dressing. All three of these swatches were left to sit for nine days while I was out of town.
On August 18th I wiped off any excess dressing and buffed the swatches dry. I was disappointed to find that the "brown" dressing had turned the leather a bright orange. It also made the leather look mottled and uneven in color. This was not a color that I wanted my whips. The swatch with the classic dressing had darkened up the leather but not into a brown color. I then took some classic dressing and coated the swatch that I had used the brown dressing on. Then I used the brown dressing on the classic swatche. They sat for two days.
The results of this can be seen in the photo above. Both swatches darkened up quite a bit. Especially the swatch on the far right that I use the classic dressing first and then applied the brown. The center swatch is still orange but a little darker than it was originally.
I was pleased with the color of the leather on the far right. My conclusion at this point was that if I wanted to use the new brown dressing to darken up my whips I would first have to treat the leather with the classic dressing, let it soak it up and then apply the brown dressing second. So I took the plunge and tried this with my most recent, and still light colored, whip which happened to be my Pocket Bull. What I didn't take into account when I performed my initial experiment was that the leather I had used for swatches were not coated with shellac and the whip was. I had treated the whip with a couple coats of classic dressing a few weeks earlier so I decided to just use the new brown dressing. Here are the results:
As you can see, the whip is darker than the natural tan leather but is more of a yellow/orange instead of the preferred (my preference anyway) reddish/orange. I've compared the color of the whip above to my well broke in DM453 and the color of the newly treated whip is indeed more yellow. I'm not sure if this is because of the type of shellac used or the age of the leather.
My next experiment (which I do not have a photo of. I apologize) was to braid a four plait section about eight inches long. I then gave it a coat of shellac and let it dry. Once dry I coated one end with the brown dressing and the other with the classic. After two days of soaking I did vice-versa. The results? No difference! Both sections at each end of the newly braided segment were an identical bright yellow! Have you ever needed stitches and the doctor puts that iodine solution around the cut turning your skin yellow? That is what the leather looked like. Not brown. Not orange. Yellow.
Here is what I have concluded from these experiments. The new brown leather dressing from Pecards will not turn your brand new natural tan whip into a brand new brown whip. What I suggest is to just stick with the classic dressing for conditioning your whips and maybe after a few weeks of cracking use the brown dressing in conjunction with the classic.
However, my recommendation is the same as before these experiments. Just use your whip and over time it will darken up to a beautiful color naturally. I was hoping that this new product would be the Gearhead's do all/fix all leather product but I don't think we've found that yet. Oh well, at least this stuff works on the boots!
-Kyle
(All photos were taken in mid-afternoon sun light.)
Regards. Michaelson