Tank strap care

[Yodastien]

So my v7R spent 2 years on a dealer floor in Arizona before I became its first owner. So the tank strap didn't receive much care and it it hard and curled is there anything i can do to restore it?

 

[Moto_Max]

Get yourself some saddle soap and rub it into the leather. Can be found at feed supply stores and leather shops

 

[not-fishing]

Or you can do what I did with my expensive Stubben Close Contact Saddle and Tack, there was a period that I jumped horses, olive oil treat the strap. I still do this with my leather boots Stylemartin and other leather goods that see a lot of wear or sometimes water. Olive Oil has been my go-to leather preservative for the last three decades.

 

[Wahoo650]

I use Lexol on my leather jacket - love the stuff. Back in the day used linseed oil on baseball gloves.

http://www.lexol.com/

 

[Trout]

If you want to take the time you can make a great leather conditioner & water proof. It's really easy & if you want to try I'll look up the ratios & post them.

Olive oil gently heated with bees wax until the bees wax is totally melted & absorbed by the olive oil.
Remove from heat and as it is cooling you must continually stir it.
It will thicken & become like a salve or petroleum jelly.

I have found that when applying it to boots it works best if you use a hair dryer to warm the leather then rub it in.

I also add essential oils during the cooling process like Lavender & Tea Tree or Eucalyptus & Camphor if I want to make it bug repellent, since I have done this I don't get near as many ticks when hiking.

The same essential oils can be added to distilled water with a couple drops of alcohol & kept in a spray bottle for mosquitoes, ticks etc...

 

[elkgrichard]

I'll second that olive oil. When I was a kid my dad always use mink oil on his baseball mits. I've used mink oil on my boots but can't say it's as good as the olive oil.

 

[Trout]

I'll second that olive oil. When I was a kid my dad always use mink oil on his baseball mits. I've used mink oil on my boots but can't say it's as good as the olive oil.

Most of the "mink oil" being sold today is actually petroleum products. I quit using it some time back when I noticed the stitching on some of the boots was not lasting as long.

 

[trialsn]

Venetian Leather Balm (also known as Venetian Shoe Cream). It's the only stuff I use on my leather shoes and is highly recommended by most companies that produce fine leather goods. I believe the creams come in white (for lighter dyed leathers), brown hue and black.

Real mink oil is great, but good luck sourcing it. In a pinch, olive oil will work.

 

[sign216]

Real mink oil is great, but good luck sourcing it.

I used mink oil too, "back in the day." It probably did soften stiching, like Richard said. But the leather seemed to like it. As Trialsn said, finding the real stuff will be difficult. I'm not sure why they even used the oil from minks. Crazy.