It can always be better but I'm glad it was helpful!

This comment made my day. The goal of Ashland has always been to share the best leather in the world with more people. I'm really happy that it worked here!

I always look forward to your comments, Ed. Thank you very much. I think you are choosing wisely with the English Tan Dublin and I'd say the cobalt blue would be another good one to try. Marbled shell stuff is expensive. If you can afford the shell I strongly suggest getting some marbled. I love that they are all unique and the color range is really special on both the black marbled and color #8 marbled.

It's combination tanned.

Hey, Aaron. I'd love to do this. It is a difficult challenge for me because we have a very wide range of leathers and colors and textures. I sort of collect them from the tannery. The last count I have is around 100 different leathers and colors. We are also getting new stuff all of the time. I like the idea of getting color groups. I'll try that

Would love to do this. I've done a few on the raw shell cordovan. I don't have that many other colors that have aged that long to show. Here is the vid kzfaq.info/get/bejne/huCkp916xrWYeJc.html

I like Aero and Schott jackets. Coronado makes some cool bags

This was made for you. Thank you!

Hi, Stephen. Glad you got some value from this. It's my pleasure.

Thanks again for your help!

Good eye. The valet tray is mill dyed of finished both sides CXL. All Cavalier is mill dyed but only some CXL (it's more rare) is mill dyed

@@AshlandLeather I'm dying trying to ascertain which product is the best to condition my black Cavalier Docs. I want to use a neutral product but there seems to be a few products available. Cavalier is a variety of Chromexcel correct? Which product would be best for Cavalier when taking into consideration the lower hot stuff oil/wax ratio? My aim then would be longevity over aesthetics because I want to be able to justify a sole replacement several years from now. Are Saphir conditioners Superior to Venetian Shoe Cream, hence the cost? Thanks in advance for reading my long winded question. You're a gentlemen and a scholar.

Hey, Sam. Good question. The only difference between the Derby and Dublin is that the Derby is tumbled. Derby is softer and has a tumble pattern that develops slightly. They are very similar and yes Derby is softer.

Good question. Only the black CXL does not have pull up. There is a version of Chromexcel called Euro CXL and Casual CXL that have been finished to reduce the amount of pull up. All of the CXL is water resistant but not waterproof

Good question! Neither CXL nor Dublin are waterproof. CXL is water resistant (the water will roll off of it) and the Dublin will actually soak it up

@@AshlandLeather Thank you for the clarification!

@@AshlandLeather That sounds a bit worrying. Will the Dublin be damaged if you get caught in the rain with wllet in yur pccket???

Well I'm glad my boots are CXL. The brand has been made out of a few Horween leathers and Cavalier seems to be the easiest to care for, only requiring conditioner a couple times a year at most.

The chromexcel edges do polish up nicely with Tokonole. It takes a bit of extra effort on the Chromexcel sometimes

They are very similar and the English Tan is more orange

Yes! I actually have some special strips that I have been working on that were supposed to be a counterpart to the raw shell. I call them raw veg and they are the horsehide strips but modified slightly to be a little softer. I can make a vid on these and the standard russet horsehide strips

@@AshlandLeather That's perfect!! I've been planning for White's boots to make me a pair of White's western toe packer boots using russet horsehide strips from Horween. Lots of people (including Horween) don't advise to make boots out of them, because the veg is so tough, but I have two examples (one from Whites) of people making boots out of the veg tan strips. It scared me a little bit about the tough break in, but if you're making more pliable versions that answers my prayers!!! Also, I emailed Ashland Leathers about the often unheard of aniline (shell cordovan style) dyed color versions of the strips. If you can do an extensive video on them (seeing as there is not much example of them floating around the internet) I'd be so extremely grateful!!! Thank you.

@@frankredwood6103 I sent a request to the Horween VP of sales and owner of Tannery Row to come down and do a video demonstrating the strips and variations of strips. White's boots makes plenty of boots out of the aniline CXL strips (mostly black I believe). They can be made a bit softer. The veg strips are pretty inappropriate for most applications because they are super thick, very inconsistent (lots of imperfections), and they are incredibly firm. The CXL strips can be made much softer because of the high amount of waxes, oils, and greases that are hot stuffed into the leather during the tanning process. Hopefully I can get a nice long video with the Horween crew to demonstrate the strips for you

@@AshlandLeather Thank you for replying. I might still want to use them, if I want such a wild look. If the inconsistency means I have to buy more to get a consistent weight, than I might do that, depending on a few things. Thank you for getting back to me. I can't wait for the video to hatch. The strips that are aniline dyed in the same process that the shell cordovan is are also of great interest to me! I'm currently emailing back and forth someone at Ashland leather about it. If you can get those on video that would be inspiring, to say the least.

@@AshlandLeather Sorry, just realized I had already asked about the aniline dyed strips and that you had answered my questions about them already. Again, thank you so very much. If the biggest problem is scratches and scars on the leather, I prefer that, as long as it doesn't mess with the structural integrity.

Not that I am aware of. There was a very dark color #16 I think