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Dubbin is a wax product used to soften, condition and waterproof leather
Leather

Leather is a material created through the tanning of rawhides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. The tanning process converts the putrescible skin into a durable, long-lasting and versatile natural material for various uses....
. It consists of natural wax
Wax

Wax has traditionally referred to a substance that is secreted by bees and used by them in constructing their honeycombs.It is an imprecisely defined term generally understood to be a substance with properties similar to beeswax, namely...
, oil
Oil

An oil is a chemical substance that is in a viscosity liquid state at room temperature or slightly warmer, and is both hydrophobic and lipophilic ....
 and tallow
Tallow

Tallow is a rendering form of beef or mutton fat, processed from suet. It is solid at room temperature. Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without the need for refrigeration to prevent decomposition, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation....
. It is different from shoe polish
Shoe polish

Shoe polish , usually a waxy paste or a cream , is a consumer product used to polishing, waterproofing, and restore the appearance of leather shoes or boots, thereby extending the footwear's life....
, which is used to impart shine and colour to leather.

Dubbin has been used since medieval times.






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Dubbin
Dubbin is a wax product used to soften, condition and waterproof leather
Leather

Leather is a material created through the tanning of rawhides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. The tanning process converts the putrescible skin into a durable, long-lasting and versatile natural material for various uses....
. It consists of natural wax
Wax

Wax has traditionally referred to a substance that is secreted by bees and used by them in constructing their honeycombs.It is an imprecisely defined term generally understood to be a substance with properties similar to beeswax, namely...
, oil
Oil

An oil is a chemical substance that is in a viscosity liquid state at room temperature or slightly warmer, and is both hydrophobic and lipophilic ....
 and tallow
Tallow

Tallow is a rendering form of beef or mutton fat, processed from suet. It is solid at room temperature. Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without the need for refrigeration to prevent decomposition, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation....
.
Dubbin Open
It is different from shoe polish
Shoe polish

Shoe polish , usually a waxy paste or a cream , is a consumer product used to polishing, waterproofing, and restore the appearance of leather shoes or boots, thereby extending the footwear's life....
, which is used to impart shine and colour to leather.

Dubbin has been used since medieval times. In the 20th century, dubbin was regularly used by amateur football players in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, to waterproof leather football boots.

The name 'dubbin' is a contraction of the gerund
Gerund

In linguistics, ?gerund? is a term used to refer to various non-finite verb in various languages:* As applied to English language, it refers to what might be called a verb's action noun, which is one of the uses of the -ing form....
 "dubbing", describing the action of applying the wax to leather.

Ongoing conjecture abounds about whether the constituents of dubbin promote rotting of the natural fibre stitching used to attach leather pieces together. There are centuries of experience that suggests it is safe, but selected pieces of literature have demonstrated some deleterious effects on high–order cellulose structures by bacteria
Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
 which survive and propagate in the amino acids and fats contained in tallow, one of the chief ingredients of dubbin.

Dubbin can also be used as a moisturiser and chain lubricant.

External links

- a humorous website devoted to dubbin, containing dubbin facts, dubbin poetry and celebrities holding cans of dubbin. - a more conventional site belonging to a UK manufacturer of dubbin. - a leathercrafter's perspective of this leather
Leather

Leather is a material created through the tanning of rawhides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. The tanning process converts the putrescible skin into a durable, long-lasting and versatile natural material for various uses....
 conditioner. - a USA manufacturer of the old style, hand-made dubbin. "Just like they used to do it." - Material Safety Data Sheet - Joseph Lyddy dubbin. - Opportunities for industry and the safe investment of capital (1859) Rothman, E., Lippincott, USA Jarell, T.D., Holman, H.P., (1923) Effects of Treating Materials and Outdoor Exposure upon Water Resistance and Tensile Strength of Cotton Duck, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Bureau of Chemistry, Washington. Norton, F.J., (1945) Waterproofing Treatments of Materials, Patent Number 2386259, Serial Number 452,885, United States Patent Office. Holman, H.P., Jarrell, T.D., (date unknown) The Effects of Waterproofing Materials and Outdoor Exposure upon the Tensile Strength of Cotton Yarn, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 15(3), US Department of Agriculture, Washington. Stewart, C.S., (1977) Factors Affecting the Cellulolytic Activity of Rumen Contents, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, pp. 497-502