3) My leather has that bright, light new look that I don’t like. Is there a way to darken it / make it older?
A lot of our bags have that worn-out look some people desire. Naturally leather darkens with regular use and age. Remem ber how you take care of your leather will affect its appearance in some way.
Q: I wish my Walnut product were just a shade or two darker. Is there any way to darken it?
A. Yes. Leather darkens naturally with age and use, but you can speed up the process by lightly conditioning it a few times with oil. Follow the directions on the Leather Care page or: using our Leather Care Dressing, neatsfoot oil, mineral oil or even olive oil, rub on a light layer, rub it in, let it sit overnight, then buff it dry the next day with a clean rag. You can do this as many times as you want, and it will darken it up a little bit each time. (can be oiled for darker hues.)
My leather practically looks too bright, light color wise to me. Whatever you do to leather will change it’s appearance in some way. This, as well as normal use. This also makes the item uniquely yours. Oil from your hands will in time give this leather a pleasing patina. If you do not want this to happen you can use a conditioner, it will fill the pores and darken the leather according to the porosity of the leather and what is in the conditioner. Normally it would at least darken a little bit with regular use and good care,
darkening oil/conditioner is more expensive but its definitely worth it if you want to seriously darken the leather. it darkens a lot quicker then neatsfoot or any other oils ive tried. however ive also had good experience using olive oil to darken tack. it works best if you warm the oil up a little bit first, then paint it on with a small paintbrush. works even better if you can set the leather goods in the warm sun to dry. whatever oil doesn’t absorb just wipe the excess off. if you want to do a 2nd or 3rd coat I usually wait a day in between to make sure the oil gets totally absorbed into the leather.
But some people found that neatsfoot and olive oil work better than hydrophane for darkening.
If you want to darken the leather you can use mink oil and put it in the sunlight to darken to the desired amount, don’t use to much though. Excessive oiling and heat can make leather shrink and discolor.
The full grain leather used on our bags is treated such that a protective layer of beeswax and oil formed
