How to renew leather tool pouches

I'm cleaning out a pile of my grandfather's tools that my uncle had, and I came upon Grandpa's leather carpenter pouch. I also have my dad's pouches like that. All of them are dry, brittle, misshapen leather, that are not comfortable to wear, as they don't soften up. I suspect at least some of them have gotten wet, a bunch lived in the desert and dried out, and all were worked hard.

How do I soften old cranky leather? I love the pouches, they are really good tools, and I feel it's part of honoring my father and grandfather, who I learned so many skills from, to use their tools. I remember seeing both of them wearing the pouches for many years, when I saw this one today I said "Hey! I know that one!!"

Grandpa's leather carpenter pouch

Incidentally, I'm taking pictures of the cool tools that are shaking out of this project. My uncle had a lot of my grandfather's tools in his storage unit. When my uncle died, I cleaned it out and am sorting it. If you are into old tools, I'm going to be showing some off, and asking for ID and use of others. Watch for the thread! Not sure yet what forum I'll put it in, probably gear, but I'll definitely cross post it to meaningless drivel and low tech also.

I used lanolin to soften up some leather garden gloves that had gone hard. It worked to some extent, though I expect a mix of some other things will probably work better.

Lanolin does work very well, as does a boiled linseed/beeswax 'leather balm'. As far as getting that belt part clean & dry,  ehhh... if you figure that one out, please let me know. The metal bits on one of mine are in bad shape, and both are filthy.

All of these are filthy. The one I came across yesterday, pictured above, was buried in a box that was covered in sawdust and general dirt. The others are dusty and dirty too.

I assume I need to clean them before I grease them up?

I'm trying to think what I have, I don't know that anything I have around will work well. Off the top of my head I have Bag Balm (lanolin + petroleum jelly), I may have some liquid lanolin left that I used on wool, I have boiled linseed oil. I can buy anything I need to, I'd prefer to use something effective over what is randomly around here leftover from other reasons.

Leather care is really not in my skillset. A lot more details would help. I assume I don't dump them in a sink of hot soapy water, which is my default with things, but have no clue what is good to do.

I'd strongly recommend saddle soap, first. Then the conditioning. Saddle soap, while reasonably priced - or at least used to be - is easy enough to make, too.

I would suggest cleaning it with some Murphy Oil Soap if you have that.

Then melt some beeswax and use a brush to apply.

When dry check to see if the tool belt needs another coat of beeswax.

Carla Burke wrote:I'd strongly recommend saddle soap, first. Then the conditioning. Saddle soap, while reasonably priced - or at least used to be - is easy enough to make, too.

Can I get saddle soap explained? What is it, how do you use it?

Anne Miller wrote:I would suggest cleaning it with some Murphy Oil Soap if you have that.

This is what i was thinking. i live somewhere there is no Murphy's and apparently any real soap (castile type or glycerine) will work as well.

Pearl, my first job was at a horse farm where often I'd have to dig out tack from storage (sometimes decades of storage, horse stuff is expensive and nobody throws it away) that was brittle, moldy, and often hard as rocks and then get it back into working order.
I'd start with a bucket of warm water and Murphy's and a sponge and sponge off the whole mess with lather, let dry then work in oil (usually neatsfoot, but you could conceivably use other stuff. i just broke in a new pair of boots a few months ago with olive oil, not even kidding, because that was what i had). then repeat. Sometimes it took a few times, and often once it started getting flexible the leather needed to be worked (kneaded, massaged, harrassed, etc. Good for working out your stress, not that I had much when I was that age....).
Because horse tack gets really dirty (and all this crap was already stained and gross) we often washed things with soap lather and water and then oiled them without thinking twice, I know sometimes people are super reticent to get leather wet but it worked for us. In fact I remember in some cases letting things soak (old long lines that seemed likely to break, harness gear), but I don't think I'd do that! All this old horse gear had gotten wet many times before it got mummified....
In this case because it looks like there are rivets in the leather i think it will be super important for you to let it dry so the metal doesn't oxidize.

My feeling on getting it wet is... that's life. Stuff - especially stuff that is used, used hard, often, etc, is just going to get wet, sometimes. That said, I'm not one to use much water, if I can avoid it, simply because it means quite a bit of work to bring it back to that strong, supple state, if it wasn't previously well-conditioned.

My saddle soap is equal parts (by weight, for me)beeswax, oil (linseed or neatsfoot, preferred, but... I've even used lard or tallow, in the past), and liquid castile, melted, and all combined. I've thought about whipping it, to make it easier to spread & rub into the leather, but so far, I've not gotten around to it.

My process is simple, though it can take a bit of elbow grease, and patience. First, I take a brush(dense & stiff, but not wire - think toothbrush, shoe brush, or even - for larger pieces - a curry brush) to the leather, paying particular attention to bad spots, super dirty spots, seams, & hems. Then, a clean, slightly damp cloth, to wipe off any remaining dust. Then, a good rinsing out of the same cloth or a wet brush, and dipping into the saddle soap, to scrub the leather, well - again, paying special attention to those same areas. Once I'm done with that, a clean, very damp cloth to wipe out all the dirt & saddle soap. Then, I let it dry, working it occasionally, to help keep it from getting too stiff. Once it's dry, it gets conditioned: I rub in as much conditioner (lanolin, tallow, or oil, often blended with beeswax, for better water resistance) as will go in - especially at the faster wearing spots, seams & hems. It's a time sucking job to do really well, but, I find it/ therapeutic, and the results often last years, before needing more attention than a simple wipe-down. Well... Boots & gloves need it more often.

Carla's advice is great, particularly if you have the ingredients around to make a mix with beeswax, neetsfoot oil, etc. Be careful with saddle soap on extremely dry/cracked leather, and suede, as it can damage the suede and it can also change the pH of the leather over time if used often as it is a bit more alkaline. I have done a fair bit of leathercrafting, hand stitching bags, wallets, journal covers, etc. from fine full-grain leather. Have used numerous products for cleaning and conditioning, and found that Bickmore products are overall the best bang for the buck and a lot easier to use than the beeswax-based paste-type products that I've used.. Bick 5 is a cleaner/conditioner in a spray bottle, I'd start with that, then follow with Bick 4, which is a conditioner, if the leather is quite dry. They make a separate cleaner (Bick 1), but for most things Bick 5 does the job.

Boot balm would work great. there are many diy recipes out there. Probably have to apply a couple times to hydrate and soften the leather.

Hi Leslie,

Welcome to Permies.