Bellows Maintenence

[Scott N]

I know it's not recommended to use any product on the bellows leather. But leather on my Jeffries bellows at the ends, where the gold tooling is looked very dry and a bit dirty. So I decided to try some Ekornes Hide Bracer leather conditioner and cleaner that I've used on my recliner. It's kept the recliner supple and clean for 25 years. It made a big improvement in the look and feel of the leather and brightened the gold and it didn't affect the finish on the ebony. I didn't use it on the bellows folding sections at all. Just saying.

[Lappy]

I used Lexol leather conditioner  on bellows and everything is fine. I didn’t overdo it and wiped it off after I applied it.

[Paul_Hardy]

I have used neatsfoot oil on a set of really stiff bellows that hadn't been played for 70 years, and they restored them to playable condition, and I've played them without problem for five years. I accept the general advice that oil on bellows may hinder future repair gluing, but if the alternative is being brittle, cracking, and being discarded, then a careful application of leather oil may be the better option.

 

Many years ago, Colin Dipper, who probably knows more about concertinas than a dozen people alive, gave me a little pot of a leather treatment he used. He said to use sparingly, but he wasn't against leather treatment.