3 Best Leather Conditioners For Oil Tanned Leather Goods

Best leather conditioners for oil tanned leather

There’s something so exceptional about the durability and the luxurious look of oil tanned leather goods. But if you would like your oil tanned boots, gloves, bags, etc, to stay in peak condition, you have to properly maintain it.

This will mean properly conditioning the oil tanned leather item, among other things, with a good leather conditioner.

So if you’re looking for a good leather conditioner for your oiled tanned leather goods, then my buying guide has a lot of tips to help you get the best and some good quality product recommendations.

So what are the best leather conditioners for oiled tanned leather? The best leather conditioner for oiled tanned leather leather in no particular order are:

  • Bickmore Bick 4 Leather Conditioner (Overall Best All-In-One Conditioner For Oil Tanned Leather)
  • Red Wing Heritage All Natural Leather Conditioner (Best Leather Conditioner For Shoes & Boots)
  • Leather Honey Leather Conditioner (Most Popular Conditioner For Oil Tanned Leather)

There’s obviously a lot more to the list of products listed above. Keep reading this article to find out more!

But first, a little information to help you understand what oil tanned leather is all about.

What is Oil Tanned Leather?

Tanning is the way the raw skins of animals are turned into leather. There are various ways to tan leather but the two most common methods used are chrome tanning and vegetable tanning.

Oil tanned leather is leather tanned with main ingredients such as acids, chemicals, chromium salts, etc. to make it incredibly water and weather-resistant.

Most people are confused by the name oil tanned leather to mean this leather is tanned with oils.

But instead, oil tanned leather is essentially chrome tanned leather that has been treated with oils and waxes.

The interesting part of this type of leather is that its tanning process is super fast and takes only 24 hours to complete.

This is why it’s very common (80% of all leather in the world is oil tanned leather) and it’s a lot cheaper as opposed to vegetable tanned leather.

A couple more advantages this leather has to offer is that fact that it’s soft, supple feeling, has a great look, water-resistant, and weather resistant.

So when getting a leather conditioner for your oil tanned leather goods, you would want the conditioner to enhance the oil tanned leather qualities of suppleness, water-resistance, and weather resistance.

Best Leather Conditioner For Oil Tanned Leather – Buying Guide

When you’re out shopping for a leather conditioner, the first most important thing to remember is not all leather types are the same, so most commonly no one conditioner will be good for all types of leather.

So meaning you must get a leather conditioner that can be well suited for the type of leather you have (in this case oil tanned leather).

You would want to choose the best leather conditioner for your oil tanned leather so that you do not ruin the look and fibrous integrity of your oil tanned leather.

So here’s a quick buying guide to help you choose the best leather conditioner for oil tanned leather goods.

Type of Leather Products or Goods

One of the very first factors to consider when you’re looking for the best leather conditioner for oil tanned leather goods is the type of product the conditioner is going to be applied on.

Typically, the kind of leather conditioner you will need for leather boots or jackets will be different from the one you will need for your leather sofa.

This will be mainly dependent on the kind of conditions the leather item is usually exposed to. That is interior conditions as against external use leather goods.

So you would want to check for the product recommendation for which the leather conditioner is best applied on.

Generally, you will be able to get leather conditioners specially formulated for boots, bags, furniture, or clothing.

Formula That Maintains The Unique Qualities of The Oil Tanned Leather

When you think of oil tanned leather two main things or qualities comes to mind which are its ability to repel water and how weather resistant it is.

So as stated above, you would want to get a leather conditioner that will be able to maintain these two exceptional qualities of your oil tanned leather item(s).

Ease Of Application

This definitely should be on your list of factors to consider when looking for the best leather conditioner for your oil tanned leather items.

Leather conditioners will generally come with different applications. There are leather conditioners you will be able to apply by spraying, used with hands, or using applicators like the microfiber cloth.

Usually, leather conditioners that come in the form of creams and lotions can be applied using a microfiber cloths while the more fluid leather conditioners can be applied by spraying them from something like an aerosol spray bottle.

There are also leather conditioners that will come in the form of wipes treated with leather conditioning agents to help conditioner your leather goods.

Best Leather Conditioner For Oil Tanned Leather – Reviews

Now that couple of parameters has been established, let’s now head over to the details of the best leather conditioner for oil tanned leather.

Make sure to thoroughly clean your oil tanned leather goods before you conditioner it with any of the conditioners below

1. Bickmore Bick 4 Leather Conditioner (Overall Best Conditioner For Oil Tanned Leather)

The Bickmore Bick 4 Leather Conditioner is my overall best pick for the best leather conditioner for oil tanned leather.

This product was invented in 1882 and it’s a really old company.

The Bickmore Bick 4 Leather Conditioner is specially formulated to clean, condition, polish, restore, and protects a wide variety of leathers.

This is your all-in-one complete leather care product which is extremely easy to use on oil tanned leather. It literarily comes with a one step application process.

Another key feature of this leather conditioner that you will be most impressed about is the fact that it will not darken your leather unlike the many other leather conditioners.

This means that you will have very deep conditioning while maintaining the original color of your leather when you use the Bickmore Bick 4 Leather Conditioner.

Pros:

  • Good for restoring old worn out dried leather
  • Inexpensive
  • Great for different types of leather
  • Ensures the leather lasts long
  • Simple one-step application process
  • Will never darken your leather
  • Leaves no residue on leather
  • Offers decent water-resistence to leather
  • Wax-free (if that’s important to you)
  • Makes leather supple and plient

Cons:

  • Will not cover scuffs quite well
  • Regular application required for good water resistance

If you’re interested in this leather conditioner, you can check it out over here on Amazon for additional information.

2. Red Wing Heritage All Natural Leather Conditioner (Best Conditioner For Shoes & Boots)

The Red Wing All Natural Leather Conditioner is my pick for the best conditioner for leather boots and shoes.

The Red Wing All Natural Leather conditioner is made of a mixture of pine pitch, mink oil, and beeswax.

This product is proudly made in the USA and was specially made for Red Wing’s Oil Tanned leather range of boots but can be used on any oil or chrome tanned leather items you own.

What this leather conditioner does is to help maintain the unique qualities of your oil tanned leather.

It will essentially ensure your leather item lasts very long and stays properly protected from the elements of the weather.

Pros:

  • Easy to apply
  • Water Repellent
  • Goes on very smooth
  • Makes the leather soft
  • It will not come off or rub off on you or your clothes
  • Results in a neat matte finish
  • Enriches the color of your leather

Cons:

  • It darkens light-colored leather
  • Not suitable for anything you would want a shine on
  • Leaves a bit of a tacky feel

If you’re interested in this leather conditioner, you can check it out over here on Amazon!

3. Leather Honey (Most Popular Conditioner For General Leather Goods)

The Leather Honey Leather Conditioner is my pick for the most popular leather conditioner you can buy and use to condition your oil tanned leather goods.

This leather conditioner has been around since 1968 and has stood the test of time to be one of the most popular alternatives on the market today.

The Leather Honey Leather Conditioner is a non-toxic, non-sticky, non-solvent, and doesn’t contain any silicone or leave behind an odor.

It gets into the pores of the leather to moisturize it and restore flexibility. That gives it a newer, cleaner look that most people want with their leather.

One thing that the Leather Honey Leather Conditioner is synonymous to is the fact that one application can last up to 6 months.

This is going to ensure your oil Tanned leather stands the test of time against all forms of weather through out the year.

Talk of weather, the Leather Honey Leather Conditioner will give your oil tanned leather goods protection whether rain, shine, or snow.

Pros:

  • Penetrates leather deeply
  • Excess application won’t be harmful to your leather
  • Superb honey-like consistence which makes it very easy to apply
  • A single treatment can lasts up to six months and longer
  • Great for new leather and rejuvenating old leather
  • Made in the USA
  • Water repellant
  • Suitable for use on many types of leather

Cons:

  • Need a bit of elbow to spread it evenly

If you’re interested in the Leather Honey Leather Conditioner, you can check it out over here on Amazon!

Kwabena

Hi! I’m Kwabena, the owner and founder of Favored Leather. I’m a huge Leathercraft enthusiast and I’ve been that for almost 13 years now. I'm excited to share my experiences and all the new stuff I learn each day about leather craft, leather cleaning & care, and everything in-between!

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