Restoring Old Leather

November 12, 2005 7:37 AM

I have a pair of antique oak T-back chairs with padded leather seats. The leather is old and not quite brittle, but it is cracking ever so slowly. What can I do to help restore some suppleness and health to the leather?

I've considered mink oil, but I'm just familiar with its waterproofing properties and I definitely don't want to put something on the seat that is going to end up on my backside after I sit in the chairs.

posted by sciurus to home & garden (4 answers total)

Leatherique, no question.
I've used it on car seats, and it's everything they say.
posted by Floydd at 8:33 AM on November 12, 2005

Olive Oil seems to work quite well if you want a free/easy to get hold of solution.
posted by alexst at 8:50 AM on November 12, 2005

Leather balm. I thought it was a trademark, but there are a bunch of products using the name Meltonian looks the most like the one I know.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:23 PM on November 12, 2005

You probably want a leather cleaner and a leather conditioner (or an all in one job). You can get it in the form of what you might use on your car, as Floydd has suggested, or you can visit a saddlery shop locally (or what my dad used to call "the feed store" a Gold Kist or whatever) to get leather care products typically used on horseback riding equiptment. This does, of course, depend on your leather. I've used horse-related items on nice leather shoes before, but not on anything upon which I planned to sit, other than a saddle.
posted by Medieval Maven at 3:38 PM on November 12, 2005