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Leather stripping tip

cramej

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For those of you needing to strip the leather off an old camera (e.g. early 20th century), I almost accidentally found something that works wonders.

I have an Ansco No. 9 model B that I was dreading removing the leather because I thought I would have to sand it all off. What a mess!

Tonight, I figured I would try getting it wet. The closest thing near me was a bottle of Simple Green. I sprayed it on liberally, and let it sit a couple minutes. Lo and behold, the leather (and most of the glue) scraped off in sheets! Sure, it can raise the grain a bit, but nothing a little 320 grit can't take care of in short order.
 
That's good to know, thanks for posting this. My default is to grab the Odorless Turpenoid that's used for cleaning my brushes (unless I've used acrylics, in which case they get thrown away because nothing on earth can get dried acrylic out of the ferrule). I've been around solvents too much of my life, so something like Simple Green might work for other uses around my place.
 
I should add that I scuffed the surface with some 80 grit sandpaper before spraying to allow it to soak in better. This may not have been necessary, but it surely accelerated the process.
 
A cloth or sponge almost dripping wet with very hot water placed on the leather for a minute or two will loosen the leather.
The leather will turn to mush if the wet cloth/sponge is left on too long and in some instances before the glue releases it. 90% Isopropyl alcohol will remove some glue residue as will acetone.
Kiwi Premium Instant Polish works well to restore the color to faded/worn leather.
Pure neatsfoot oil applied in light coats keeps leather soft or helps bring back badly dried leather.
https://tandyleather.com/collections/supplies/products/dr-jacksons-pure-neatsfoot-oil
 
cramej said:
The closest thing near me was a bottle of Simple Green.
Click to expand...

I never heard of Simple Green. Looking it up yielded several products.
Please look up the ingredients of the product you used and tell us.
 
Yup, seems likely to me that in the period when real leather was used, they also used bone or hide glue that can be best loosened with hot steam. Water is bad to get inside a camera though, especially if it picks up tanning agents from the leather on the way. I'd try ethanol or isopropyl first of all, relatively benign and dries off again quickly.
What is the product the OP recommends? Water based?
 
AgX said:
I never heard of Simple Green. Looking it up yielded several products.
Please look up the ingredients of the product you used and tell us.
Click to expand...
The original green Simple Green.


Yes, it is water based. Maybe it's the alcohols in simple green that are doing most of the work. Of course, the Ansco is a simple roll film camera with all the metal bits removed and the bellows covered with a towel.... simple green isn't great on metals.
 
alcohol should lift any leather glued with shelac. without damaging the leather.
 
But there is "leather" made from leather fibres and binder.
And even true leather my be varnished instead og throughout dyed.
 
AgX said:
But there is "leather" made from leather fibres and binder.
And even true leather my be varnished instead og throughout dyed.
Click to expand...

The former could be true of my Ansco. It basically disintegrated into dust when sanded, but was also very difficult to remove when dry. The embossing actually left impressions in the wood so I wonder if the "leather" was pressed on to the body with adhesive.
 
I use Simple Green for initial cleaning of leather(ette), but I don't let it sit-- Usually apply it to a cleaning cloth, and use it to remove a few decades of grime.
 
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