I have a brand new all roughout training saddle that is just natural roughout color. Is it possible to darken it with something like hydrophane darkening oil without ruining the roughout? I just prefer the look of darker leather.
I use oil on my rough outs all the time. It will darken with age and time and use, but if you want to darken it up, definitely neatsfoot oil or something like it. If the rough out gets matted down too much for your liking you can rough it back up with a pumice stone or wire brush. Just be very light and gentle with pressure at first to only use as much as you need.
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I oil rough out too. I use a small nail brush to re-scuff the rough out.
To me there is nothing worse stiff leather, and oiling it definitely makes a difference!
Our repair team would recommend that you use a neatsfoot oil compound lightly, by dabbing with a sponge or rag and applying it in coats. You’ll want to go slow and take time between coats to keep the oil even, or it could turn out splotchy. If it does start to look uneven in color you can add more oil, just be careful to use thin coats and leave plenty of time between oiling.
Adding too much oil can cause the saddle to bleed oil onto you while riding, which can damage your clothes, so be sure to go slow when adding the oil.
If your roughout ends up too smooth for your preferences due to this you can very lightly sand with rough sandpaper, taking care not to sand too much to cause damage to your saddle.
We do not recommend dye as it can chemically react with what’s already in the leather. This can cause the leather to bubble which is not able to be fixed. Dye also won’t be able to be sealed with roughout, so you can end up with any dye you use bleeding onto you and your clothes while riding, which will lead to stains.
Just start riding. It’ll darken with time.
If you want to speeden the process, condition/oil it with the product of your choice, and then use a wire brush to “re-rough” the roughout.
