WATERPROOFING LEATHER To Oil Boots.—Sponge with warm water, and when nearly, but not quite, dry rub with kerosene oil or neat's-foot oil or castor oil.
Or dissolve 1 ounce of pure par affin in 1 pint of the best lard oil by means of gentle heat.
Apply any of these with a sponge as warm as the hands will bear, and rub in with the palm and fingers. Let dry and repeat. Use plenty of elbow grease.
To Waterproof Leather. — Sub stances • recommended for water proofing leather are various animal fats and oils, as beef and mutton tal low, suet, neat's-foot oil, castor oil, wax, rosin, pitch, solution of India rubber, and various preparations of varnish. The animal fats and oils, and wax or paraffin, are preferable to the vegetable oils, except castor oil, rosin, or any form of varnish. A solution of India rubber is perhaps the best material to apply to the seams.
Linseed and other drying oils, es pecially boiled oils, should not be used for upper leather, as they dry rapidly and have a tendency to make the leather stiff and hard. Most forms of varnish have also the same tendency. With these thoughts in mind, selection may be made from the following recipes: Melt together with gentle heat equal parts of beeswax and mutton tal low. Mix to a soft paste with neat's foot oil or castor oil, and color, if de sired, with ivory black. Apply hot.
Apply a mixture of equal parts of mutton suet and beeswax without other ingredients.
Or mix with gentle heat 4 ounces of beef suet, 2 ounces of beeswax, 1 ounce of rosin, 2 ounces of neat's foot oil, and 1 ounce of lampblack, and apply hot.
Or mix with gentle heat raw lin seed oil, 8 ounces; suet, 4 ounces; wax, 3 ounces; rosin, 1 ounce; tur pentine, 21 ounces, and apply hot.
Or mix 1 pound of boiled linseed oil, 1 ounce of rosin, 3 ounces of wax, and 4 ounces of dryer (litharge, red lead, or sugar of lead), and boil un til the mixture becomes stringy. Thin with 11 pounds of oil of tur pentine. Apply one or more coats with a brush while warm.
Or melt 1 pound of tallow and 1 pound of rosin, and apply hot with a brush all the leather will absorb. To polish, dissolve 1 ounce of wax in spirits of turpentine and add 1 ounce of lampblack. Apply this after the tallow and rosin mixture has thor oughly dried, thus producing a wax polish on the surface, but remember that this process tends to shrink the leather.
Or mix 2 ounces of mutton suet, 6 ounces of beeswax, 2 ounces of soft soap, 91 ounces of lampblack, and 1 ounce of powdered indigo. Dissolve with gentle heat, stir well, and add 1 pint of oil of turpentine.
Melt together with gentle heat 4 ounces of raw linseed oil, 5 ounces of boiled linseed oil, 4 ounces of suet, and 4 ounces of beeswax. Apply hot.
Or melt together with gentle heat 8 ounces of boiled linseed oil, 2 ounces of beeswax, 2 ounces of tur pentine, and 1 ounce of Burgundy pitch. Apply hot, while the leather is warm and dry, until thoroughly saturated. Let dry before wearing.
Or melt together with gentle heat castor oil, 5 ounces; Burgundy pitch, 2 drams. When cold, add 1 ounce of spirits of turpentine.
India-rubber Mixtures. — Dissolve with gentle heat in A pint of neat's foot oil as much India rubber from an old pair of rubber overshoes or rubber boots as the oil will contain. Tear out the cloth lining, cut the rubber up in shreds with a pair of shears, cover with the oil, and let stand two or three days on the stove until melted. It must not boil or burn. When melted, add 12 ounces of mutton tallow, 4 ounces of bees wax, and color with lampblack or ivory black if desired. Apply this mixture when warm to warm leather previously washed clean and nearly dry. Apply with d. sponge and rub in with the hands until fully satu rated. This composition thoroughly waterproofs leather boots and shoes.
Or melt together 4 ounces of neat's-foot oil, 4 ounces of beeswax, and 2 ounces of India rubber until thoroughly blended. Apply hot with a brush to warm, clean leather.
Or dissolve in 1 pint of camphene as much India rubber as possible. Pour off the clear liquor, and to this add Currier's oil, 1 pint; tallow, 3 pounds; lampblack, 1 ounce. Mix with gentle heat.
Shellac Varnish.—Put in a glass bottle or fruit jar 4 ounces of gum shellac. Cover with alcohol and let stand until dissolved. Add 1 ounce of gum camphor and 1 ounce of lampblack. Shake, and mix thorough ly until dissolved. Thin, if necessary, with alcohol, and apply with a brush. This covers the leather with a water proof coating having a high polish, but is hard, brittle, and tends to crack.
Or mix 1 pint of alcohol, 3 ounces of white turpentine, 3 ounces of gum shellac, and 1 ounce of Venetian tur pentine in a glass fruit jar, and let stand in a warm place until dis solved. Add 1 ounce of sweet oil and 1 ounce of lampblack. This is a flexible varnish which will not check or crack.
Or mix 2 quarts of alcohol, 1 ounce of sulphuric acid, and 12 ounces of gum shellac. Let stand until dissolved and add 2 ounces of ivory black. Mix and let stand 24 hours. Pour off the top and apply with a brush.
French Varnish.—Dissolve in 2i pints of white wine or best vinegar 3 ounces of loaf sugar and 4 ounces of powdered gum Senegal. Strain through cheese cloth and put over a slow fire, but do not let it come to a boil. Add 1 ounce of powdered galls, 2 ounces of green copperas, and pint of alcohol. Stir for 5 minutes. Remove from the fire, and when nearly cool strain through cheese cloth and bottle. Apply with a brush.
Or melt with gentle heat in a double boiler pint of alcohol, 1 ounce of gum benzoin, and 4 ounce of gum sandarac or gum anime. Strain, and add gill of poppy oil.
Or dissolve in 8 ounces of turpen tine 3 ounces of copal varnish and ounce of India rubber. Dissolve separately 4 ounce of beeswax in 8 ounces of boiled linseed oil. Mix and add 14 ounces of litharge. Bring to a boil and bottle for use.