Condition Leather

Hello Roger,
I have a project that I hope you can advise me on.
I have a 70 year old leather pouf (ottoman) that I am trying to save from extinction (actually, I have two poufs and I'm salvaging enough good leather from both to remake one). The leather is dry, worn, torn, and worm-holed, other than that it's in excellent condition.
I took the poufs apart and used water-based Elmer's Glue to bond the leather to cotton bed-sheet fabric. (Right or wrong that step is already done.) The gluing went well, but now I'd like to soften the leather (make more flexible/stretchy) so it does not crack when it is sewn and bent.
I have some nice conditioners that seem to do well, but do you think that Fatliquor 5.0 would be the best choice? Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot,
Steven

Here are three more pictures of the pouf leather: unglued, glued front, glued back.Attachment 5055Attachment 5056Attachment 5057

>>> do you think that Fatliquor 5.0 would be the best choice?

Fatliquor-5.0 is the equivalent to the original leather softening when done by a modern tannery.
Fatliquor-5.0 is an anionic charged or ionic negative (-ve) charged fat and oil that will hydrogen bond with the cationic or ionic positive (+ve) charged leather protein fiber unlike other non-charged oil that stuff in and leaks out easily. Function of the oil component is to lubricate the millions of connection fibrils so that they all acts as well lubricated hinges and moves smoothly when flex. Function of the fat is to plumps the leather with fullness.

The two unglued pieces are like the autumn dried leaves that loss its moisture content and shrunk.

To restore to its original fullness need first to use Hydrator-3.3.
The function of the hydrator is to relax the shrinkage and stretch back to original dimension.
It is only with hydrated and well relaxed that Fatliquor-5.0 replenishing begins.
You may weight the pieces and decide the amount to fatliquor you wish to increase and applied according.
After dry you will note the increase in percentage and up to 14% when measure with a leather moisture or wood meter would be the norm.


Roger Koh
Leather Care Consultant / Practitioner / Instructor

Thank you.
How does the fact that I have already used a water-based glue to bond the leather to cotton fabric affect the use/results of the Hydrator and Fatliquor? I am guessing that the swelling to original size is an issue ... will the Hydrator or Fatliquor break the glue bond?
Steven

>>> I am guessing that the swelling to original size is an issue ...

The Hydrator-3.3 is precisely for this purpose “swelling to the original size” follow-up with Fatliquor-5.0 as a holistic system.