Have you used mink oil on your leather item and you’re not so pleased with the outcome? Or did your leather item get stained with mink oil and you’re looking for the most effective way and how to remove it without damaging your leather item? I’ve got you covered! In this article, I’m going to show you how to remove mink oil from leather.
Here’s how to remove mink oil from leather using “The baking soda & hairspray method”:
- Step 1: Blot the mink oil with a clean dry cloth
- Step 2: Sprinkle the leather with baking soda
- Step 3: Leave the baking soda to sit on the leather for about 6-8 hours.
- Step 4: Brush off the baking soda
- Step 5: Spray the surface of the leather with hairspray
- Step 6: Leave the spray on for about 40-60 seconds
- Step 7: Wipe off the spray with a clean rag
- Step 8: Leave leather to air dry
For more details on the baking soda & hair spray method highlight above, keep reading this article. I’m also going to show you 2 additional methods and how you can use them to remove mink oil from leather.
Is It Even Possible To Remove Mink Oil From Leather?
Mink oil is a very common oil for conditioning leather. With mink oil’s special properties you will be able to use it to darken leather, make leather supple, and water-resistant. But in some cases, certain properties of the mink oil can simply be an overkill.
Although mink oil is supposed to offer long-lasting protection on leather goods, mink oil can also be removed prematurely from the leather. The only catch is that it’s going to take a substantial amount of time to remove mink oil from leather.
But with the right materials and following the best practices highlighted in this post, your time spent will be worthwhile as you will be able to successfully and safely remove the mink oil from your leather.
Related Article: 5 Easy Ways To Remove Water Stains From Leather Car Seats
How To Remove Mink Oil From Leather
Mink oil is a good leather conditioner alternative but can sometimes result in undesirable effects on leather.
So here’s my step by step guide on 3 different methods you can use to remove mink oil from leather items. But first a quick pro tip!
Pro Tip: If the mink oil is fresh on the leather you would want to use a clean dry cloth to blot as much of the mink oil as possible. You can also blot as firmly as possible but you wouldn’t want to rub it in. Rubbing in the mink oil will cause the mink oil to penetrate further deeper into the pores of the leather.
Related Article: Is Mink Oil Good For Leather? (Here’s All You Need to Know!)
1. The Saddle Soap Method
Generally, when it comes to finding remedies for stains on leather, you would always want to consider the less rigorous approaches before going for the robust ones.
Using saddle soap method is one of the very first things you would want to consider when you want to remove mink oil from your leather.
This is because using saddle soap is a leather safe approach to removing any form of stains and dirt from leather.
The Saddle Soap Method is particularly going to be more effective when the mink oil on the leather is fresh.
Here’s how you use the Saddle Soap Method to remove mink oil from leather.
Things Needed:
- Saddle Soap
- Microfiber Cloth or A Lint-free Rag or Soap
- Water
Procedure:
Step 1: Put some saddle soap on your rag or microfiber cloth or sponge – small amounts at a time.
This will, however, depend on the type of saddle soap you go for but you will find that you will oftentimes be able to load a sponge, cloth, or rag with saddle soap without diluting it and then using it directly to clean leather.
Step 2: Once your sponge is loaded, begin to apply the saddle soap over the affected area of the leather.
Step 3: Gently rub the sponge over the surface of the leather. You can use a short clockwise rubbing motion to work the saddle soap into the leather.
If properly done the saddle soap should disappear leaving behind no residue.
Saddle soap is very strong and tough on stains (including oils) but is very gentle on leather. So the saddle soap will strip off most of the mink oils from the leather with ease.
Pro Tip: When doing this on much bigger leather items like furniture, car seats, jackets, etc, you would want to always (mentally) divide the item into sections so that you can thoroughly clean out every part of the leather item – plus it’s a much easier and faster way of cleaning leather with saddle soap.
Step 4: Continue rubbing to remove the mink oil. Once you’re satisfied with the leather surface (that is not greasy feeling) you can then use a clean dry cloth to wipe the surface of the leather – removing any form of residue that may have remained.
Step 5: Allow the leather to dry. You would want to put the leather item in a cool dry place so that the leather air dries thoroughly.
Step 6: Because saddle soap is pretty harsh, I strongly recommend that you condition the leather to restore any lost essential oils or moisture that may have been lost as the leather was cleaned.
Step 7: Finally, allow the leather item to air dry.
This method will cut through any mink oil that have stained or saturated your leather while restoring the leather to its original color.
However, if the mink oil has deeply penetrated the leather for a long period of time then this method may not be able to completely remove the mink oil.
In this case, you would want to try a more robust approach which is to use the acetone method.
Related Article: Mink Oil vs Saddle Soap: The Differences & 21 Helpful Tips
2. The Baking Soda & Hairspray Method
Hairspray is highly versatile and can do everything from removing stains from leather to securing screws.
Yes, I’m talking about a regular hairspray. The hairspray is awesome for removing stains from leather by simply spraying them on and then using a cloth to wipe it down.
Baking soda and talcum powder, on the other hand, are also good for removing oil stains and grease from the surface of leather items and other materials as a whole.
What the baking soda particularly does best is to soak up the oils from the leather.
Discliamer: The Baking Soda & Hairspray Method is not a quick fix to removing mink oil or any other kind of oil from leather.
Using hairspray together with baking soda or talcum powder is going to work magic for your leather.
Here’s how to use the Baking Soda or Talcum Powder Method to remove mink oil from leather.
Things Needed:
- Baking Soda or Talcum Powder
- Rag or Lint-free Towel
- Hairspray
- Soft Brush
Procedure:
Step 1: If necessary, blot the mink oil with a clean dry cloth.
Step 2: Sprinkle the leather with baking soda or talcum powder. You would want to make sure the entire area with the mink oil is coated or covered with baking soda.
Step 3: Allow the baking soda or talcum powder to sit on the leather for about 6-8 hours. This will ensure the baking soda or talcum power totally absorbs the mink oil from the leather.
Step 4: With a soft brush, begin to brush off the baking soda or talcum powder from the surface of the leather.
You can start gently and work your way to being a little bit more aggressive with your brush. You would want to brush gradually because the baking powder residue or talcum powder closet to the leather will have a slightly gummy consistency – so you would want to put a bit of elbow into it.
Step 5: Now spray the entire surface of the leather with your hairspray. You would want to do this until the entire surface of the leather is slightly or mildly saturated.
Step 6: Allow the spray to sit on the surface of your leather for about 60 seconds.
Step 7: Now begin to wipe off the spray with a dry clean rag. This will remove any form of baking soda residue together with any remaining mink oil with its residual darkening from the leather.
3. The Acetone Method:
The acetone method is one of the best ways to remove mink oil from leather. Using acetone is a bit of a drastic approach to dealing with mink oil on leather but it’s definitely a great alternative when all other less robust approaches have failed.
Here’s how you use acetone to remove mink oil from leather items like leather boots, shoes, bags, belts, furniture, etc.
Things Needed:
- Acetone
- 2 Pieces of Rag
- Dish Soap or Saddle Soap
- Tulcum Powder or Baking Soda
- Leather Conditioner
Pro Tip: Always wear gloves when you’re working with acetone.
Procedure:
Step 1: Load your rag with some liberal amount of acetone. Use the acetone sparingly.
Step 2: Start to wipe away the mink oil from the leather. Acetone will help to breakdown the mink oil on the leather. You will begin to see some residue buildup on the leather.
Step 3: Use a clean rag to wipe off the build up.
Step 4: Now rub the talcum powder or baking soda over the leather. Try to rub it in so that it soaks up any remaining grease or oil residue from the leather.
Step 5: Let it sit for about 15-20 minutes.
Step 6: Now brush off the talcum powder from the leather.
Step 7: Mix a solution of mild dish soap and water, dampen your rag with the solution, wring it out, and use it to dry clean the leather.
Step 8: Leave to air dry.
Step 9: Condition
Step 10 (Optional): Polish
Related Article: Difference Between Leather Conditioner and Mink Oil (Plus Which is Best!)
Conclusion
The process of removing mink oil from leather can be very time-consuming but it’s definitely worth it if you want to refinish your leather or want to get rid of an ugly finish mink oil has left on your leather items.
In this article, I shared a step by step guide on how to remove mink oil from leather using 3 different methods that I find very effective.
I hope this article has been very helpful to you. Thank you for sticking around! Cheers!
