Ballistol on leather

[mrappe]

The label asys that it can be used on leather. Has anyone used it on their belts?

[rickk]

Yup, works great!

Softens, waterproofs, even develops a shiny finish if you wipe something down once a day for several days in a row.

Great for the inside of a holster to make the gun draw easier.

It is somewhat water soluble, so do not rely on it for extreme waterproofing (i.e. boots).

Ballistol is the one "true snake oil" that actually does just about everything it says it does.

The only thing that it does not seem to do well that they claim it does is remove water from fuel. I tried adding to tho Kerosene to use in my kerosene lamp collection. Yes, it probably did mix with the water in the kerosene, but the problem is that Ballistol does not burn all that well so the performance of the lamp suffered greatly. That is the only thing I have tried that it did not work quite as claimed.

Rick

[Slowhand Bob]

I have been using it experimentally on leather for many years now and yet to see any negative effects BUT like any and everything else you put on your leather do it in very conservative amounts.  Sometimes we just tend to luv our stuff to death through over-care.  Remember those baseball gloves we used as kids, we would soak them in glove oil (probably neatsfoot) and then bind them up around a baseball before placing them under our mattresses to set the pocket.  The only thing greasier than our gloves were the underside of the mattresses we slept on? 

[will ghormley]

I use to use Balistol on my cap 'n ball revolvers and other black power weapons back when I competed in cowboy shootin'.  I never noticed any problems, but did eventually switch to plain water and extra virgin olive oil for my bp weapons.

The one thing I would caution about using man-made chemical compounds on leather, is this:  When they say the product softens leather, sometimes it does it by breaking down the fibers of the leather.  Some of the old neatsfoot oil compounds were not pure neatsfoot oil.  They softened the leather, but over the years left it with a crumbling surface, often reducing the leather goods to leather dust.

I like stickin' with the old stuff that has proven itself over the centuries.  But, that's just me. 

Will

[Slowhand Bob]

I agree Will and even if my leather does not show ill effects by the end of my days, that would still not be anywhere near the track record of the products we are talking about replacing.  What I am doing is to use the same Ballistol cloth that I use for my final rub down of the guns, metal and wood, to wipe the surface of the leather AND this is not done more than monthly.  I usually state, "not recommending it, just experimenting with it" and am now at slightly over ten years into the experiment. 

[White Buffalo Chip]

  Howdy folks, I've also used it on cuts, works as good as coal oil. No soreness
the next day. YMMV

WBC

[Freedom]

The stuff smells Terrible!!.. can't imagine it all over a full rig ... I have used it for lubricating  leather OP Wads for my flintlock fowler and now my possibles bag just reeks after just a few wads were carried in it.

The stuff may do it all, but I have found Nothing that it does well enough to warrent putting up with the stink.

[will ghormley]

Yeah the smell was another thing.  My wife would always complain when I cleaned my bp guns in the house.  In fact, that was probably the main reason I went with the traditional cleaners and lubricators for my bp weapons.

Will

[rickk]

The smell goes away pretty quickly when used on leather.

And as far as the smell goes... get caught using Hoppees #9 in the house once or twice and Ballistol starts to smell like flowers.