Is Coconut Oil Good for Leather?

Is coconut oil good for leather or should you avoid using it? Well, as a natural oil, you could think that you can definitely use it on leather.

But hold on a bit:

Just because it is a natural oil, it does not get through pass to be used on leather. After all, we do not see a lot of coconut oil in leather conditioners. You may wonder why since the oil is so readily available.

If you have leather boots, furniture, bags or other items at home, you know that they cost you a good deal of money. Therefore, you want to do everything possible to keep them in prime condition. You are exploring the market for the best leather conditioners and you bump into coconut.

Just don’t buy it yet. As you will see in the latter sections of this article, you may use coconut oil to cook, apply on your hair and so on, but it is preferable not to use it on leather. You see, if leather is not reconditioned, it hardens up and it could start cracking.

So, is coconut oil good for leather? Yes and no. No because of a few things such as:

• It doesn’t soak very well
• It can alter the color of your leather items
• Coconut oil can make your leather fragile

However, if you have no alternative oil for reconditioning your leather boots, you can use this oil but with more caution.

Some internet sources will tell you that it is fine to use coconut oil on leather. However, here, we think it is not an entirely good idea. So, we can vote 80% no and 20% yes. Keep reading as we expound some more on why it is not good to use coconut oil on leather couch, boots or other. Later, we shall look at a few conditions which may warrant the use of coconut oil leather conditioner.

Why You May Not Use Coconut Oil on Leather

Unless there is no other leather conditioner available, we would advise you to avoid using coconut oil on leather boots. Please note that this does not mean that coconut oil is not entirely usable on leather boots because you can, but with certain precautions in mind.

Here are some reasons why you may want to avoid using this oil on your boots:

It does not soak very well

It really is not that leather does not soak up coconut oil very well, it still can be used without issues under the right conditions. This means that you need to apply the oil at the right temperature and the leather also needs to be at the right temperature.

After using coconut oil on leather boots, many people complain that they noticed that the leather did not soak up the oil as fast as it soaks in many other leather conditioners such as mink. However, we have found out that this could depend on how well you prepared the shoes for this oil.

In some instances, some people report that 24 hours after applying the coconut oil on their boots, it still had not soaked in properly. The last thing that you want after applying a conditioner on your boots is to have them looking oily and greasy hours after applying it. In this case, you may want to avoid using coconut oil on boots.

Hours after applying your leather conditioner, if you touch the boots with your hands, there should be no oil on your fingers. However, with coconut oil, this may not hold. You touch them even 24 hours later and there will be oil on your fingers especially if you did not apply it at the right temperature.

Coconut Oil Can Change the Color of Leather Seats

When used on brightly colored leather seats, some users have complained that coconut oil changed their color. While this might not hold for your boots, well, leather is leather and we may assume that the color change will happen, only that you will not know it because it won’t show on your dark, brown or grey boots.

If you are not sure about this, you can apply the oil on a small spot of the shoes and let it soak in. If you notice that it is changing the color of the boots, you should not apply it. Do the same spot test if you are applying it on your leather furniture.

Vegetable oils are known to darken leather and yes … you are right. Even coconut is classified as a vegetable oil and it darkens leather. Therefore, if you have a pair of boots that are already dark, you can use this oil without worrying too much. However, you might have to reconsider before you can use it on bright leather shoes.

Coconut oil may cause faster aging on your leather

This is not something that you can test for, but somewhere, a user complained that after using the coconut oil on her leather seats, the material become weaker. They realized this after small cracks appeared in several places on the leather.

Once again, you can apply the oil on a small spot so that you test whether the leather will show cracks. If it does, you can stop using it immediately. The formation of tiny cracks combined with the changing of color may make your items look too old already. Applying coconut oil on leather shoes may not be too bad if they are already old. However, you might want to test it first for new shoes.

How to use homemade leather conditioner coconut oil

If you have been asking: can I use coconut leather conditioner on my shoes? The answer is yes you can. However, this is not like a regular conditioner that you get from the store, clean your shoes and apply it directly. You have to meet a few conditions, as we will show you here.

How to use coconut oil for shoes

Once you have decided that you want to use coconut oil for shoes, you know you had better do it just right. There are a few important steps to follow so that you get the best outcome. Do the following:

• The first thing is to clean the leather boots thoroughly. You can then let them dry.
• Mix water and a few spoonfuls of vinegar in a basin
• Use a clean rag dipped in the water-vinegar solution to rub the shoes thoroughly. This will remove any remaining dirt that may hinder the working of the coconut oil conditioner
• Melt the coconut oil by dipping the bottle in warm water. This oil freezes easily, which is why many people do not use it
• Now, dip your finger in the coconut oil and apply it on the shoes in circular motions. This will be hard work but when you rub it in, the fingers and the leather generate friction and heat. This heat makes the oil absorption ever so easy.

After you have applied the oil thoroughly on the entire boot, take your brush and brush them thoroughly. This will bring about a good shine. In addition, the leather is left more nourished and flexible.

Precaution when using coconut oil on leather furniture and shoes

When using coconut oil on leather furniture, boots or shoes, you need to take certain precautions. First, you need to know that coconut oil freezes easily, so if you use it in cold weather, it will leave a whitish cloud on your leather. In fact, it will not even soak in properly.

On the container of the conditioner, check what temperature the manufacturer recommends for keeping your conditioner. It is very important that you keep it at that temperature all the time.

It is also vital to ensure that your leather shoes, furniture or any other item are at the right temperature.

If you brush the shoes and you find out that there is still some excess oil on their surface, you can rub it away with cotton wool or cotton cloth.

What oil is good for leather?

Is coconut oil good for leather and if it is not, what oil is good for leather? Now that we have shown you the good and bad sides of using coconut oil on leather, we feel you ought to know what oil to choose without hesitation.

Many people ask: Is olive oil good for your leather? Others ask about essential lemon and leather honey oil. Some of these are pretty good, but olive oil is a no-no. However, the one that takes the prize is the mink oil for leather.

You can read our article on using mink oil on leather to understand why this is our oil of choice for maintaining leather items.

Conclusion

Is coconut oil good for leather or should leave it alone? Well, this topic is a bit two-sided with some users swearing against it and others on it. Therefore, we would propose that you do not use coconut oil altogether. Instead, just go for mink. It is tops!