"In the early nineties I started to become unhappy with the water absorbancy of the leather we were using on our gamekeeper boots - we were using a WR100 leather (when WR100 leather is flexed in water for 100 minutes it must not absorb more than 6% of its weight in moisture). We had noted that after 6 months the leather we were using in our gamekeeper boots was absorbing 14% - over twice as much.
I took the leather and boots to the Pittards Tannery laboratory in Leeds and they quickly identified the problem - it was not the leather - but the leather treatment!
The gamekeepers had been using a bootcare product which contained a high amount of hydro carbon based solvents (ie. coal/oil based waxes with parafins, white spirits etc.)
 These bootcare products had been developed many years previously for leathers tanned in the old way, however, the new water repellent boot leathers were different - and although these bootcare products were acceptable on some leathers - they had a tendancy to neutralise the water repellent components tanned into the more modern WR100/Anfibio/Hydro type leathers.
At that time in Leicester there was a bootcare company - Allen & Caswell - and with them I worked on the problem of finding a wax oil that would be compatible with modern leather. The result was Leder-Gris. So when we say..."we recommend Leder-Gris" it is NOT a gimmick -
we recommend it because, if used correctly and regularly, Leder-Gris will
help sustain the water repellency of leather for a longer period of time. |
