First test of WaterBased Neatlac

 

 

 Jan 2019: I got hold of the new Neatlac (waterbased) and so I have started to test to see if it lives up to the quality of its obnoxious, but good quality highly used, predecessor.

So [A] I used it on Eco-Flo Water Stain. It made the color pop beautifully, but arrow [1] and arrow [2] shows that you should not let it pool anywhere (I put it on liberally so that it would pool so that I could see the effect). 

In [B] I used it as a resist under Eco-Flo Hi-liter - worked very well as a resist (in all of these tests I only used 1 single layer of Neatlac).

Piece [C] was first stained with Eco-Flo Hi-liter, and then the Neatlac was used as a sealer over it (also used as sealer on piece [B] ).

Arrow [4] shows a spot where the brush did pick up the stain - so I am going to stay with LeatherSheen from a spraycan to seal in any antique stain. My friend Jim Linnell showed me how to put a sealer like this on with a sponge: you simply work it until it is even - the sponge will pick up some of the antiquing, but you just keep working it until it shows even.

The difference between the light and dark indicated by arrow [3] is merely a border between more and less oxidation - the Neatlac had no effect there.   In the second photo, the arrow shows a border between Neatlac and no Neatlac - [a] has Neatlac as a resist to Fiebings Antique Paste, and [b] has no resist.

So it looks like Pro Resist by Fiebings is a better resist for its own paste.

Piece [c] simply had Neatlac as a topcoat over the natural leather - no color - nice and shiny. I think with practice and more experiments this product might just be as good as it was when it was still a bit poisonous many years ago.

First published Jan 2019