Neatsfoot oil

Beth Richwine <richwineb [at] nmah__si__edu> writes

>We have just acquired a collection of artifacts that contain a
>variety of materials.  Some of the painted leather objects are
>sticky.  I found out that they were coated with neatsfoot oil at
>least 15 years ago and suspect that this is the problem.  There are
>also some metal objects with an unusual shiny, slightly yellowed
>coating, but what has been unpacked so far does not appear to be
>sticky.  Has any one had similar problems and had any luck removing
>this oil?

This sounds like a leather dressing of neatsfoot oil and lanolin was
applied.

Neatsfoot oil, alone, should not be too sticky.  But lanolin, in
excess certainly is.

VM&P Naphtha and rags or cotton swabs should safely remove the
excess.

Jack
Thompson Conservation Lab.
7549 N. Fenwick
Portland, Oregon  97217
USA
503-735-3942
Fax: 503-289-8723


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:22
                 Distributed: Friday, October 21, 2005
                       Message Id: cdl-19-22-004
                                  ***