Troubleshooting
Some notes
Leather balm is natural and prone to weird results in different situations. The "problems" with one leather balm is prone to happen with any other balm simply because wax and oil will relatively act the same regardless of what kind, for the most part. (Well some oils solidify at room temperature and some go rancid faster than others, but I go into that on this page, not here.)
Nonetheless, you can always email me at Bluebelly@ bluebellybalm.com if you don't see your issue listed here! Remember I'm always here to help!
Help! There's white residue!
Because of the natural waxes in the balm, any large amounts of balm left over, usually in creases or tooling grooves, can leave visible wax behind that didn’t stick to the surface. Best way to remove it is with a brush, most preferably horsehair should do the trick and shouldn't remove the balm layer on the surface. To avoid this altogether, apply a few light coats and avoid building up excess balm into the grooves. It’s harmless, fixable and any leather balm on earth will do it!
The balm isn't soaking in!
Some leathers are treated and sealed at the tannery with a top-coat designed for keeping leather more durable and waterproof. Practically all car seats are treated this way and will not accept any oils. Some furniture and bags can be treated this way as well.
Nearly every leather crafter uses a top finish to seal in leather dye and to protect the surface from everyday use. I'd (crudely) estimate 80% of finishes used are unnatural, acrylic-based finishes that will create a "plastic" barrier on top of the leather that will resist most liquids, including oils in balm. These finishes tend to wear off quickly over time unlike finishes that come from the tannery itself.
Most balms will take less than 10 minutes to fully saturate and dry to the touch. Sadly if a balm or oil isn't penetrating, you can either attempt to find out if it's coated with a finish or wait for the finish to break down before applying balm. Stripping the finish will lead to removing color as well so I wouldn't recommend it.
my leather is cracking!
This issue is perhaps only prone to leather crafters that use my balm as a finish. If your leather appears to have "cracks" when bent after applying balm, this is due to a thick layer of wax being forcibly bent beyond its stretch limit and causing visible cracks similar to "pull-up" leather, in the wax. Although this issue is rare, depending heavily on the case, it can happen and it's only a visual issue. It is generally only visible on darker leathers. (In my experience, this issue is what led me to make my own balm instead of using the typical liquid leather finish, however, the issue seems to be universal.)
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This occurs mostly on wallet bends and small sized wrist cuffs, if they haven't been formed yet. Items like boots, belts and bags wont see this issue because they don't bend at extreme angles.
To avoid: form your bends, if possible, before you apply the balm or during. If it can soak in and dry to touch while bent, it shouldn't show up. The thicker the wax layer on top, the more visible it can be.