Thanks to the scientists out there, I got some good responses and leads.
The British seem to be in the lead on the topic through restoration of
archival leather bound books. I learned that relative humidity is very
important, not just sunlight exposure. I learned that rejuvenator oils
probably won't help shrunken leather, just stiff leather.
Ken
Personal response:
"" but I'm pretty sure there are NO cells left after tanning. I expect
that leather is mostly fibrils of extracellular proteins, like collagen
& keratin. NO cells. I expect that oil makes the fibrils less brittle.
I think the following is a reasonable *guess* - that on a molecular
scale (this is relevant since basically, each fibril is just a few long
molecules), when they dry out they get more crystalline, & when wet they
are more disordered so they can tolerate flexion. This is just my
mental image: it may be that when they're dried out they are more like
rubber bands in liquid nitrogen, that tend to break instead of flex. Or
rather like crystallized metal after bending several times.""
Web references:
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Chemistry-of-Leather-Care&id=605554
Wikipedia look up for neatsfoot oil was good
"google fat-liquoring of leather"
Progress in Leather Conservation (Conference Review)
University of Texas, Austin, March 1997.
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/waac/wn/wn19/wn19-2/wn19-209.html
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