Gilboy's Leather Conditioner Balsam
£30.00
Gilboy's Natural Leather Conditioner Balsam will help nourish your leather goods, keeping them looking and feeling their best. This natural leather feed will help to replace the essential oils that are lost over time.
All natural ingredients, each one plays a crucial role in helping condition leather:
- Beeswax
- Cosmetic-grade lanolin
- T1-grade carnauba wax
- Organic sweet almond oil
- 100% pure coconut oil
- Organic cocoa butter
Choose between 'Classic’ and 'UV Protected' options
For those who wish to limit the effects of exposure to UV light, for example the change in colour of leather, the 'UV Protected’ version is for you. After rigorous testing, Simon selected a non-hazardous industry leading UV-absorber as an additive which helps to protect the leather from harmful UV radiation when exposed to direct sunlight.
If you wish to simply condition the leather and allow the natural patina to develop with time, opt for the ‘Classic' version.
Whichever you choose, this natural leather conditioning balsam will help to replace the essential oils that are lost over time, ensuring the life of your favourite leather items is extended.
Please Note: As the 'Classic' version is made specifically for us, the booklet included will state 'With Added UV Protection' for both 'Classic' and 'UV Protected'.
Leather needs occasional attention: Particularly leather pieces that receive a lot of use, such as leather handbags, leather furniture, and leather footwear.
Natural leather, as used in the Tanner Bates workshop, is tanned with tree barks, usually oak, chestnut, or mimosa, then treated with fats (mostly old fashioned dubbin and fish oils).
Over time and with use, these fats leech out. If they are not replaced, the leather would dry out and lose its strength and suppleness, becoming stiff and more fragile. This happens more quickly in a dry environment or paradoxically, if the leather gets wet. This is why using a quality leather care product, such as this balsam, is essential for maintaining a well-conditioned leather surface.
Ingredients
Each carefully selected ingredient is responsibly and ethically sourced and plays a key role:
Beeswax:
Triple-filtered, organically-produced and humanely-harvested beeswax from Buckfast Abbey and Teign Valley beekeepers.
Lanolin:
Cosmetic-grade lanolin (wool wax) for its excellent emollient properties. It replicates the natural lubrication of animal skin, softening leather, preventing it from drying and allowing the fibres to move smoothly across each other and so reduces abrasive wear. It is both moisture-retaining and water repellent.
Carnauba Wax:
T1-grade natural carnauba wax - known as the 'queen of waxes' because it is the hardest of all the natural waxes. It provides a crystal-clear, hard-wearing, non-greasy waterproof finish that allows the natural colour of the leather to shine through while locking-in the softening oils and emollients.
Sweet Almond and Coconut Oils:
These pleasant-smelling, natural oils help to top-up the lubricating tanning oils. Over time the natural tanning oils evaporate out of the hide. The smell of leather comes from these oils. If not replaced, leather will eventually dry out completely and become brittle and crack.
Cocoa Butter:
Cocoa butter is a natural emollient with great stability. This quality, coupled with natural antioxidants, its velvety texture, pleasant fragrance and emollient properties have made it a popular ingredient in soaps and lotions.
Features
- 125ml clip-top air-tight glass jar
- No greasy residue (moisture locked-in by the hardened waxes)
- Hard-wearing - retains condition for longer
- Softening oils and emollients locked-in
- 100% PLASTIC FREE, FULLY RECYCLABLE PACKAGING
- Complimentary sunflower seeds to grow as a 'Thank You' to the bees
Precautions
- Do not use on suede, nubuck or aniline leather- these types of leather require different and specialist leather care products
- May darken some types of leather. Always test on a small concealed area first
- Allergy risk: Contains lanolin and nut oils
- Store in a cool place
We are incredibly privileged to be offering this leather balsam. It is handmade in small batches by our friends and neighbours at Gilboy’s, just a stone’s throw from our workshop. Frustrated by the subpar quality of commercial furniture polishes, the antique furniture restoration experts at Gilboy’s developed their own beeswax polish using nothing but the highest quality ingredients.
Simon approached the development of his leather conditioning balsam as if he were formulating a premium skin moisturiser. After all, leather is animal skin. He researched the finest natural ingredients used in top-tier skincare products and set about testing them on leather to see how well they performed.
Just as with his furniture polishes, Simon committed to using only the finest, highest-quality ingredients. After months of trials and testing, the perfect combination and ratio of ingredients was reached.
This blend is suitable for a wide range of leather pieces, from leather bags and leather sofas, to leather belts and leather wallets. This balsam works wonders, conditioning leather with lanolin and other premium ingredients to provide superior care and protection.
Each ingredient on its own has wonderful properties: moisturising, water-repelling, softening, and conditioning. But when carefully blended in just the right proportions (and that’s the tricky part!), they come together to create a truly exceptional leather balsam.