What BELLOWS Material used on 1900 Seneca Improved?

[goamules]

I just got a nice 8x10 Seneca Improved View. It appears to be an early one, it is beautiful natural finished mahogany and cherry, not black. I'm ready to preserve the dry but nice bellows.

This sounds like a simple question: How do I know what the bellows material is? The answer determines if I use Lexol or Pledge (for leather or synthetic, respectively).

I know leather, I ride saddle mules. This material is so fine grained I cannot be sure it's leather. It's got a fine, pebbled finish. I used some Lexol lotion, and saw a very slight improvement in flexibility. So slight I wonder; is it some other material?

I really want to keep these bellows light-tight. they're nice now, but "crackly dry". I have not opened them all the way yet.

[Glenn Thoreson]

My guess is they are not original. That just doesn't look like the material they used in 1900, which would have probably been a very thin leather.
That material looks like a coated cloth used in the '40s and '50s. In any event, you should know that using Lexol on very old, thin dried out leather can be a hazardous thing to do. It can make it totally disintegrate. I know. I found that out the hard way. I now use Pledge on bellows, exclusively. It has never hurt anything. I apply a good coating wih Q-tip and et it sit a minute, then remove the excess. You should see a marked improvment. If it's still crispy, repeat the process. Use the lemon flavored kind. It smells nice. Now, about that Lexol and the bellows on my 1896 Premo B .... :(

[goamules]

Thanks Glenn, for your lessons learned. I think you're right, it's just a little off to be leather. Though my Century No. 2 also has a weird Bellows look. On restoring leather, there isn't a way if it's already badly deteriorated. Like you found, the wet product just shows the weaknesses. If it's still got it's skin, and is just dry but no cracks, preserving with Lexol or such will do a lot.

I'll go for pledge. It probably wouldn't hurt if they were leather anyway. And it's easier to spray on than wipe the Lexol goop.

[svlindbe]

What are Pledge and Lexol? In Norway (and most other countries, I suppose) they don't necessraily sell the same products as in the USA. A breif explanation about basic contents would help in finding locally available counterparts. :)
Svein Lindberg

[C. D. Keth]

What are Pledge and Lexol?

Pledge is a wood furniture polish and conditioner and lexol is a leather treatment.