White saddle dye?

[bikenut2010]

After dying the saddles have a good coat of black shoe polish - and are NEVER ridden in the nude - so my perineum should be quite safe

you want black shoe polish on a white saddle or a bare butt? jus' askin'

 

[David B]

I used an aniline based shoe dye to re-blacken a saddle. It is very 'thin' and soaks into the leather but - are these still available? Or have they gone the way of most good household chemically things that seem to offend the H & S fraternity?.

With my chemist's hat (and indeed white coat) on here - these things do get banned for a valid reason, whatever the Daily Mail or similar might think; properly implemented, H&S is a very sound idea. Aniline is nasty stuff and its derivatives are pretty unpleasant too, most being known carcinogens to some extent. Not sure I'd want such substances in near-contact with my perineum, that's for sure.

David

I know what you mean Dave, I suppose I was being a little bit sarcastic there about H&S. In general they do a good job but some of their decisions do leave a lot of head scratching sometimes.

After dying the saddles have a good coat of black shoe polish - and are NEVER ridden in the nude - so my perineum should be quite safe

Sorry if I came across as a bit terse or heavy-handed though; it's just that as a scientist the whole "it's H&S gone mad" mindset does my head in a bit from time to time. As for shoe polish - I used it, probably too enthusiastically, on a Brooks B17 when I was a teenager, much to the annoyance of Mum who fought a losing battle trying to get the resulting marks out of my jeans [1]....

David

[1] This was before I got ultra-serious about cycling and bought proper shorts/jerseys/shoes etc. Instead it was not unknown to do the full 36-mile slog from home to Bridgnorth and back in "civvies" during the school hols.

 

[Ian Raleigh]

''If Only'' !!

I used to work at Mansfield Shoe Co' in Nottinghamshire and in one department we had special paints/dyes which when
sprayed with a airgun gave a permanent coating over leather and actually formed part of the leather so it never wore off
I've re-sprayed many shoes and saddles for myself and still look good, Even a special filler to make scuffs and cracks disappear.

The shoe factory closed in 2004 :roll:

I could have been on a money making racket

Oh well :!:

 

[Rich34]

My Dad says neutral polish, or wax, is perhaps best for saddles. Apparently the problem with coloured leather is that (often) the colouring is only skin deep so when it rubs off it looks bad.

That's for looking after the leather at any rate. Not sure about how to make a white saddle white again.

 

[Ian Raleigh]

Just remembered what i did to my white turbo saddle which had gone a horrible mucky colour, i scrubbed the leather to get most of the dirt
out then rinsed it clean i then put a very thin layer of bleach on it ! This was only on for a few minutes and i watched it go from yellow to white
then quick as a flash washed the saddle in warm soapy water to remove the bleach, After that i looked for the wifes face cream and gave it a good
rubbing in, no harm was done by the bleach by he way.