I recently bought a car that has leather seats and the front passenger seat is as hard as a rock. I've been using a conditioner to soften it but I've not been making much progress with the stuff that i'm using (leather honey).

I've been doing some reading and I understand that Neatsfoot Oil is used to soften leather saddles and baseball gloves.

Fiebing's 100% Pure Neatsfoot Oil, 32 oz. - 5019779 | Tractor Supply Company

Has anyone tried using it on automotive leather?

I'm not bothered about the color getting darker as the seats are black.

Opinions are gratefully appreciated.

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With best regards

Al

Check out the W114, W115 enthusiast website.
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Join the Mercedes W108 group
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My 280SL restoration

Yes, best thing for It. Problem is 99.9% of the time it is applied on top of the seats, on the finished, polished and dyed side of the leather which is not terribly effective but good enough.

I'm certainly not advocating the following as it requires special skills, but when we restore antique autos with original leather we take off the seat coverings, which were simply stretched over the seats already assembled. We then have access to the unfinished underside of the leather, which is then sprayed with neatsfoot oil. Then re-stretched over the seats after the cotton and horsehair is replaced, then fastened and trimmed.

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Perfect

Thank you.

__________________
With best regards

Al

Check out the W114, W115 enthusiast website.
http://www.stroke8.org

http://www.w108.org

Join the Mercedes W108 group
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/mercedesw108/

My 280SL restoration

I was going to say it is good on shoes and such but Carleton's testamony just makes that seem silly.

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Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 82 240d, 83 300TD with five speed, 03 Dodge 3/4 ton with cummins six speed; I have had about 33 benzes. I am building a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup street rod at the moment in which I plan to install a 617 and a five speed manual.....or a 64 stude v8.

THAT Neatsfoot oil would probably be okay because it is 100%. There are some blends out there that are real crap. Neatsfoot oil is really best for raw unfinished leather like saddles and baseball gloves.

I use Griot's Leather Treatment. It's expensive, but well worth it. It smells like neatsfoot oil, but whatever is blended with it works well. Most cheap leather treatments have lots of lanolin which really is not that great for the long term.

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Larry

'88 300E 5 speed manual, 331K miles
Cessna 140

"Change oil hot and change oil often"

“I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.” - John Wayne

Check the water content of anything you apply to leather. Less water is better. From what I have read, many of the popular products have a lot of water.
Neatsfoot oil was a rite of passage--getting a new baseball glove, applying the oil, putting an old ball in the pocket, and wrapping the glove tightly around the ball, and sleeping with it under the pillow.

Carleton's advice seems like the best.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags