Taking Care of Your Leather Holster and Belt

We often receive calls from people that have acquired their grandfathers holster and wonder what they can "put on it" to treat the leather and give it some life. Depending on if the leather is full grain cowhide and whether or not the leather has been dyed is what we want to know first. If no color has been put on the leather than a light treatment of 100% Neatsfoot Oil (not the Compound) is what we would recommend for conditioning your leather.

We use a patch of sheepskin dipped in oil but a light cloth would work for doing a small project. Be careful not to saturate the hide.You want to apply a light coat slowly and allow the holster to sit and tone for at least 24 hours before applying another coat.

Leather by its very nature is organic and depending on how the hide was tanned you may not be able to get the desired results with oil. If your leather is chrome or uric tanned absorbtion will be inhibited. We don't use anyything but Vegetable tanned cowhide. You can tell if your holster is uric tanned by the smell. You can't miss it. Especially if you get stuck in a downpour, run to your truck, get in, and wonder...did the cat pee in my truck? Chrome tanned leather is known to be hard on steel so we don't use that either.