Leather Conditions Evaporating

[imported_DetailDan]

I was reading another thread about leather conditioners and there was some discussion about how they absorb, or don`t absorb into leather. It was suggested that they actually just evaporate. I wasn`t too sure I believed this, but as I was reading it I thought of a short experiment to test this. Heres what happened....




First, I grabbed a piece of glass and cleaned it with alcohol. Then applied a drop of Pinnacle Leather Conditioner

http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/1301/12666/242718.jpg



I put my finger in a plastic bag and rubbed the conditioner around for about 20 seconds. By the time I went to take the picture it had already started evaporating.

http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/1301/12666/242719.jpg



Here it is after sitting for only 1 min. Pretty big difference there.

http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/1301/12666/242720.jpg



After 2 min.

http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/1301/12666/242721.jpg



And after 3 min. As you can see its pretty much all gone, but left a VERY faint residue behind.

http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/1301/12666/242722.jpg



So I tried it again, but this time I used Leather Master`s Leather Vital. Again, I cleaned the glass with alcohol. And applied a drop of LM.

http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/1301/12666/242729.jpg



Spread it around for about 20 sec.

http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/1301/12666/242730.jpg



After 1 min.

http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/1301/12666/242731.jpg



After 2 min.

http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/1301/12666/242732.jpg



After 3 min.

http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/1301/12666/242733.jpg



After 4 min. As you can see, LM did not evaporate nearly as fast or as much as Pinnacle. I rubbed the remaining residue with my finger still inside the bag and the residue was very sticky.

http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/1301/12666/242734.jpg



As you can see, leather conditioners do evaporate rather quickly. So there isn`t much time for them to absorb into the leather either way. I still wonder why the leather feels softer and usually has a darker appearance after applying a conditioner? Id imagine some of it must get absorbed and the rest really does just evaporate.



Oh, and hopefully this was a good experiment and actually shows something worth while. If not, then dont be too harsh, its 4am. :faint: