stiff cuffs

[lugnuts]

I just bought some better quality real leather cuffs, more 'real' gear and not 'beginners kinky fun kit' quality. 

They're really stiff - I can barely put the strap through the buckle, and can't tighten them tight enough that I can't get out of them.

Any way to soften them up a bit?  I've had them over a month, I kept them fastened as far as they'd go, that helped some, but they still need help.

[Tinker D]

Cook it.

[lugnuts]

will that soften it or harden it? I've made boiled leather before,

[lugnuts]

cook = boil? like, how do I cook it? dredge in beer batter and deep fry?

[Tinker D]

Boil your cuffs in water.
That should soften it a bit.

[lugnuts]

odd - I boiled a scrap of leather long ago, it became a tough, plastic like solid. OK, I'll try it.

[lugnuts]

😉 does anybody know how to get batter off of leather?

[Tinker D]

A fellow from Mexico told me that to soften leather, you need to rub the fat of the same cow to the leather. It's part of the tanning process.

Now I sort of remember the term cook-it.

So I'm thinking, get a pot of water, some fat, bring it to a boil,
Soak the leather in the broth.

I'm sure I'm missing something.
God, that was a long time ago.
Things that come to mind is fat, oil, water.

If you find something that works, please let me know.

[vanessa_fetish]

Try neats foot oil and work it into the leather. Work it around much like oiling and softening a baseball glove.

EDITED TO ADD: We used to do this with our new climbing gear (belts etc) as linemen. The belts came stiff as a board, new leather. Did this and it became softer and pliable. Might want to also use saddle soap after to remove the top layer of oil that may remain.

[lugnuts]

So, boiled one. Had water up to full boil, put cuff in, kept pushing it down (if floated.

Not a good idea. It did get somewhat softer, but not that much, and there were some distinct negative effects:

1. It shrank by about 25% - and, bizarrely, not same amount in different directions. It got thicker, by about 50%, and shrank 25% in other directions.
So the leather's all puckery and no longer looks nice.

The cuff is a wide leather strap with padding on inside, and a narrow strap with the buckles and belt holes in it, riveted to the wide strap. The wide strap shrank more, so the narrow strap is bunched away from it.

It smells right now, but I'm hoping that goes away when it gets fully dry.

(and tis might have a postscript in a day, we'll see if it undergoes further changes)

The padding has water in it now, I'm hoping that dries out.

All in all, I'll try the neats foot oil from now on. I can't recommend this.

If I recall, there are two way to tan leather. Bet the two pieces of the cuff were made by different processes, and react differently. Also why it worked for Tinker and not me.