May 182013
Leather Honey Leather Conditioner, the Best Leather Conditioner Since 1968, 8 Oz Bottle
- Softens, moisturizes and promotes flexibility leaving your leather feeling and looking beautiful!
- Water repellent formula prolongs the life of all types of leather, including leather furniture and upholstery, automobile and motorcycle seats, boots, gloves, purses, saddles and tack.
- Deeply penetrates into the leather’s pores to protect new leather and rejuvenate old leather.
- Made in the USA by a small family business since 1968.
- Non-toxic, non-solvent, not sticky, no odor and does not contain silicone. A little goes a long way!
Leather Honey is the premium leather conditioner. Since it was invented in 1968, Leather Honey has been used to rejuvenate and recondition old leather and soften and protect new leather. Made in the USA and sold by the same family for over 25 years as Harness Honey, our non-toxic, water repellent formula penetrates deep into leather’s pores and prolongs the life of saddles and tack; boots, gloves, baseball mitts, and apparel; leather furniture and upholstery; and automobile and motorcycle seats
List Price: $ 24.99
Price: $ 11.49
One of two essential leather care products,
I like leather products, and I like to take care of my stuff, so the right leather care product is critical. I’ve used a great many over the years and have settled on two as being clearly superior: Leather Honey and Bick 4 (Bick 4 Leather Conditioner, 16 oz). They are quite different from each other.
Leather Honey: Leather Honey has a unique effect, making leather somehow feel denser and more hydrated. It is hard to explain, but it is very different than the effect of more lotion-like products, and I’ve tried a lot of them.
Here’s my experience on different things: On my favorite ten-year-old leather jacket from North Beach Leather, Leather Honey soaked in quickly in certain spots, and I added some more. After two hours, there was nothing to wipe away. The already heavy jacket feels heavier, better, and the results have proven to hold up and add more rain resistance. On a new black leather jacket, it didn’t take as much nor was the effect as dramatic, but it gave the leather a more supple feel. On my five-year-old black Tumi briefcase, it was quite inconsistent in how much soaked in right away and how much stayed on the surface. I gave it the full two hours and it all soaked in, and it now uniformly feels great. A pair of black Ferragamo’s that I bought years ago were getting quite abraded at the toe. No amount of polish worked, but Leather Honey has done a pretty good job of getting that area to look like the rest. I haven’t yet put polish over the Leather Honey, so that is an experiment I’m curious about. Brown Sebago deck shoes certainly got more supple and soaked in a lot. The color darkened.
That brings me to the three small caveats: 1) Leather Honey is not a cleaner. Since it isn’t water-based like lotion products, dirt stays. For example, on the Sebagos, an area that was a bit dirty was just the same, but the leather under it was clearly treated. 2) Leather Honey doesn’t evaporate on plastics and rubbers, nor does it wipe off that easily. A day after treating the Sebagos, the soles still had Leather Honey on them, now somewhat sticky. Obviously I should have done a better job of wiping. 3) Leather honey can and will darken some light leathers.
Bick 4: I’m pretty sure this stuff is what North Beach Leather used to sell under their own name. It is a lanolin/oil lotion that really works. I use it bare handed, and my skin feels soft and good afterwards. It doesn’t darken leather, and it cleans as it works if I wipe it up before it is all soaked in. I’ve used it on my wife’s old Chanel purse, an Armani jacket, and some Coach gloves. In every case, it did exactly what I wanted, making the leather softer, more suppler, and feel great. It is easy to wipe Bick 4 off of areas it is unwanted, like plastic or metal.
Which one should you use?
I use Leather Honey for thick leathers that I want to feel more like high quality leather. Think cow hide over lamb skin. I make sure the leather is clean, and use Leather Honey if water resistance is important. I use it if the leather is really bad, because it does more than the Bick 4. I use it when some darkening wouldn’t be a problem. Leather Honey makes all leather more, er, leathery, and I mean that in a good way.
I use Bick 4 for thinner leathers, or ones for which darkening would be a problem, or if I’m trying to clean and condition in one step. If the words that comes to mind with the leather you’re treating is “soft,” “buttery” or “thin” use Bick 4. Its effect won’t last as long as Leather Honey’s, but it works, and it works beautifully, doing just what you want a leather conditioner to do.
Addendum: Some reviewers have noted that Leather Honey didn’t soak in to whatever they were treating, leaving it sticky. Certain leathers, mainly car upholstery and couches, are surface treated with a urethane topcoat. It doesn’t make it feel like plastic, so you can’t easily tell by rubbing it. Try putting a drop of water in an unobtrusive spot. If the water doesn’t soak in and “wet” the leather within a minute, don’t use Leather Honey! Bick 4 will work, though you will be wiping most of it away. What I use is 303 Aerospace Protectant for leathers that are coated to the point that they don’t absorb water. Note, however, that 303 makes the leather more slick. Not badly so, but try it first. (303 is great stuff anyway for anything plastic or rubber or teak, but that’s another review …)
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|Best Leather conditioner available..,
I have been a leather craftsman since 1955. I found Leather Honey in the 60′s, but it disappeared for a while. It is really great to see it back on the market. I make leather goods and use Leather Honey to help preserve the leather and restore suppleness. It works great.
When using tooling leather, the dry leather is first moistened with water, carved and tooled. Then the finish is applied. The finish must penetrate the leather and preserve it. Leather Honey does this better than any other finish that I have used. The suppleness that was removed in the tanning process is restored, the leather is protected from drying and cracking and a beautiful, durable lasting finish is obtained. I can personally highly recommend this product for leather belts, gloves, upholstery, saddlery and tack, motorcycle gear and leather goods of all kinds. Leather Honey Leather Conditioner, the Best Leather Conditioner Since 1968, 8 Oz Bottle John Clark – LeatherSmith
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|AMAZING!,
I live in the desert and my very expensive leather couch has really taken a beating with the lack of moisture in the air. I have used no less than 10 other products to condition my cracking sofa. They all seem to work for a day or two and then the dryness and cracking return. I purchased this product and followed the simple instructions and I am amazed! My couch looks fantastic- it is still worn (as a 15 year old couch should be) but the rough, brittle feeling to the leather is gone. My couch feels and looks healthy again!
In addition to a fantastic product, this company provides amazing customer service! The have a customer for life !!
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