Question about using a bone folder on leather instead of Teflon

I was working on a leather-bound journal last week and my Teflon folder just wasn't smoothing out the edges like I wanted. I grabbed a cheap bone folder from my dad's old toolbox, figured I'd ruin the leather but gave it a shot anyway. To my surprise, it actually worked better on the spine folds than the Teflon one ever did. The bone folder pressed down harder and left a cleaner crease without marring the surface. I've always heard bone folders are bad for leather because they can burnish it, but this was a thicker veg-tan piece and it came out fine. Has anyone else had luck with bone on leather for specific tasks, or did I just get lucky with this particular hide?

3 comments

3 Comments

emmawood11d ago

My grandad used to rub bacon fat on his bone folders. Weirdest smell ever.

mary_foster9211d agoMost Upvoted

Respectfully, gotta disagree. Bacon fat's a classic leather conditioner that keeps the tools from drying out. Smells like breakfast and hard work, which is a win-win in my book.

cameronf886d ago

People get so weird about tradition vs. modern solutions. Like suddenly using bacon fat on leather is some hack when it's been done for centuries. Meanwhile everyone's buying fancy chemical sprays that probably cost more than the tools they're trying to save. Same pattern with cast iron pans. Everyone swears by soap now but my granny's pan is still going strong after 50 years of bacon grease and salt scrubs. Just funny how we overcomplicate stuff that worked fine before.