"Weather" Leather Will Withstand

ISEF · 2022 Materials Science

Rumney, Audrey · Cascade Public Schools

Overview

Leather is used almost everyday. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't own a leather product. This project was designed to test what product would work best for protecting leather from water. After researching different products, I felt that Vaseline would offer the most protection from water. The products I wanted to test were, vaseline, beeswax, Sno-seal, neatsfoot oil, and mink oil. I tested them by applying the different products to equal sized squares of leather. I then sprayed each square with equal amounts of water, and observed and timed how long each product was able to repel the water. In the end beeswax repelled water the longest making it the best waterproofing agent. I had predicted that vaseline would work the best but beeswax was better.