what do you clean your leather equipment with?

Yes, Ko-Cho does darken leather. I notice C&D&M recommend it for storage & restoration, not as a leather maintenance as such.

Neatsfoot oil doesn't rot stitching, despite what is often repeated on forums. I use it on laces and hard leather in preference to Ko-Cho-Line as I prefer oily to greasy and doesn't have a red dye. It also darkens leather.

Yes, Ko-Cho does darken leather. I notice C&D&M recommend it for storage & restoration, not as a leather maintenance as such.

Neatsfoot oil doesn't rot stitching, despite what is often repeated on forums. I use it on laces and hard leather in preference to Ko-Cho-Line as I prefer oily to greasy and doesn't have a red dye. It also darkens leather.

As a addition to what Chommers has already put;
Yeah, Ko-Cho-Line does darken the leather due to it containing a redy pink dye which helps maintain the colour of the deep brown leather colour. If it's used on natural undyed/tanned leather, then it causes it to add a slight gloss to the leather (i.e; stops the fresh leather looking like the surface of paper) and darkens it a bit (from untreated 'light beige' colour of the leather to a 'light cardboard' colour).

Now, with neatsfoot oil, there is a lot of myth about rotting cotton stitch, etc... - basically, buy "Pure Neatsfoot Oil" as this is just liquidised cow leg fat, and nothing else added and does not harm the leather or the stitch at all. Don't buy "Neatfoot [Oil] Compound" as this is pure neatsfoot oil mixed with petroleum distillates. The addition of the petroleum distillates is to both help prevent rusting on rivets and associated metalwork that is attached to the leather items, and to aid penetration of then neatsfoot into the leather (to speed up application and get the required 'softer' leather faster). This means that using just pure neatsfoot oil is a slightly longer process of application and rubbing it in/soaking than using neatsfoot compound. BUT the act of the petroleum distillates penetrating into the leather is by the same method that petrol spirit will slowly rot it's way through leather anyway, so the leather item slowly degrades faster. Basically, the leather becomes suppler quicker because the leathers structure is broken down slightly.

[Disclaimer; I'm not a chemist - this is how I've had the use of neatsfoot oil explained to me by a leather worker/repairer, so if anyone disagrees, please explain why this is incorrect.]

Heh, I'd ask for evidence of rotting actually - there is none!
No one knows what is in Ko Cho Line except that it is a 'grease'. I'm pretty sure it is a mineral grease (i.e. not natural line beeswax or lanolin). Same goes for many commercial products, all of which we take on trust not to cause harm.

"Dubbin" is a nebulous term that covers all sorts of leather grease. Some contains Vaseline, a petroleum product. Again, impossible to say what product contains what.

However, the myth of neatsfoot (with additives or not) continues unsubstantiated. But as definitive evidence that there is nothing to worry about I'd point out the leading suppliers of leather care products Carr & Day & Martin say:

Nourishes and restores old and new leather.
* A rich compound containing pure neatsfoot oil that will not rot stitching.
* Deep penetrating oil, excellent for restoring leather after storage or prolonged use in rain.
* Ideal for routine use on all leather items to prevent leather becoming dry and brittle.

Application
* Ensure leather is clean, then apply a thin layer to the flesh side of leather and allow to soak in. If required, also apply a thin layer to the grain side. Re-apply if leather still appears stiff, taking care not to over-oil. Not suitable for aniline or untreated leather, suede or nubuck. Test on a hidden area before use.

Key Ingredients
* Neatsfoot oil.
* Mineral oil.

Use of this stuff WILL NOT make your kit fall apart!

Ko-Cho-Line (yeh, stupid name!)

Oh, as a random side, I was also told how Ko-Cho-Line's name originated!
It's segmented name is wordplay on the use of "...oline"/ "...olene" being used as the ending of products (which today 'Silkolene' motor oil and 'Windoline' is are examples, and Windoline too uses a bit of wordplay harnessing the "...o" bit to finish the word "window", as opposed to it being a product that cleans wind ).
It's supposed to be read as "Coacholine"/"Coacholene", rather than as presented as three separate sounds "Ko Cho Line" as it's a product originally developed for cleaning and preserving horse tack and harnesses, especially those for coaches and/or traps, whos' frequency of use depended on the weather and seasons, so you could be putting away tack for the whole summer/winter depending on what coach or trap was to be used in what weather conditions.

Ah, that makes perfect sense! Yes, a bit of digging finds Coacholine leather dressing - an Australian product of old. No idea whether the more modern stuff was renamed to avoid a trademark infringement or just a bit of image upgrading. Whatever - at least I know how to pronounce it now.

I found a couple of tins of beeswax leather treatment in the cupboard which seem to work OK. Certainly softens the leather up nicely and soaks in OK although it needs a bit of encouragement from a hairdryer if it is cold.

Beeford bee products of Bridlington.

Cheers
Martin

I've got a 1903 type belt on the way which may or may not be original (looks like a later 1920's type from a link that I was sent) but either way is far too small as it is.

I've found this which I could replace the leather with, to make it a usable belt >
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... _920wt_932 - 13/4" Russet Hide Tooling Belt blank lengths Plain

From what been said above, either product - kocholine or neatsfoot would treat it and colour it (a little ?) but which would be 'best'. If I then wanted to colour the leather more deeply, would the colour still take or would the oils in the treatment stop the colour (tan ?) penetrating the leather ?

(If I did move the buckle onto the modern leather then the old belt would be used to make a bayonet frog and belt loop for a jack knife, so it wouldn't be 'wasted'.)

I don't think you would want Kocholine or neatsfoot in this case. Either a leather dye or just see if repeated boot polishing will give you the colour you are looking for. Or just go down the dubbin/beeswax leather treatment path. If you want a polished finish then note that some dubbins can be sticky and hard to put a boot polish shine on afterwards.

Some confusion in this thread.

Cleaning and conditioning/dressing leather are not the same things. If you want to clean the leather items, use saddle soap. If you want to condition the leather use Ko-Cho-Line. That's what I was taught in my horseriding days, by people who had been looking after tack for a very long time.

I use...

http://www.leprevo.co.uk/photos/carnauba.html

almost exclusively. Myself and my other half make a LOT of leather kit for dark age purposes - sword scabbards, belts, armour etc and this stuff is great. I'd recommend Le Prevo for any leatherwork needs. They are a great shop and are amazingly helpful. They also sell to reenactors a lot and at least two of the staff are active Vikings

Clean with a damp sponge and then use saddle oil , not saddle soap . Tip from Kermit 3 years ago and still going strong on it.
I have re juv'd several bits of leather I thought had turned to cardboard using it once or twice.