Darken brown leather using neatsfoot or other?

[CeeCee]

I won a lovely brown breastplate on ebay however it's a fair bit lighter than my bridle. Would using neatsfoot oil darken it up or can anyone recommend something that may do the trick?

 

[Spring Feather]

Neatsfoot oil will darken it. Make sure you only buy 100% pure neatsfoot oil though. Don't use tinctures of neatsfoot, way too harsh on the leather.

 

[cyberhorse]

Neatsfoot will work. Apply loads and leave to soak in it overnight if you need a really dramatic colour change.

 

[tase1965]

Hydrophane do a leather darkening oil which works really well, plus you can gradually build up the colour to what you want..

 

[CeeCee]

Thanks everyone the hydrophane darkening oil looks very good, I'll give that a go as I only have a neatsfoot blend so would need to buy anyway.

 

[cremedemonthe]

Neatsfoot oil is the WORST thing you can use on hide, it weakens the structure of the hide.
If you were to look at hide under a microscope at cellular level you'd know what I mean.
IF you must use oil of any kind on it's own use cod liver oil and very sparingly, try adding some strong tea cooled down to it and without the milk!
We used to use that as an edge stain years ago when we ran out of it.
Oz (27 years in the leather trade)