Sticky Leather Cords

Jewelry Discussion
1

I recently started putting my pendants on leather cords. Everything
was fine until about a week ago when I noticed some of the cords were
sticky. At first I thought something was spilled on them as they had
actual beads of the sticky substance on the cord. Then I found more
sticky cords that couldn’t have been spilled on. They are so sticky
that it is even getting on the hook and bail. When I work with the
leather my hands are always clean. The cords also seem to have a
slight “fishy” smell. It only seems to be happening with the leather
that a friend gave me. I have since purchased new cord from Rio
Grande and at this time it seems to be fine. Does anyone have
experience with using leather? Am I doing something wrong or does
this happen with a lower grade of leather?

Cande

2

Sometimes leather is waxed or oiled to make it more supple. Perhaps
this could be the cause of the stickiness. I have been using rubber
cord for pendants which I prefer to leather. It looks the same but
it is much more flexible.

Vicki Embrey

3 
The cords also seem to have a slight "fishy" smell.

A common ingredient in “old school” leather dressings (dubbins) is
fish oil, like cod liver oil. The leather may have come from a source
like central or south America where such finishing techniques are
still fairly common.

Ron Charlotte – Gainesville, FL
@Ron_Charlotte1 OR afn03234@afn.org