Whip Care

Suggestions on Leather Whip Care:

When not in use, hang your whips from a fat peg in a cool place, out of direct sunlight. Do not leave them all crumpled up in a toy bag. When traveling, pull a stocking over each whip to protect from rubbing against metal and other alien objects.

You may clean your whips by sponging (not soaking) with a solution of warm water to which you add 10% "Simple Green", or dishwashing liquid, or laundry detergent, and l5%chlorine bleach. Be sure to thoroughly dry the leather immediately by squeezing and blotting with paper towels. do not use heat. Leather does not like to get wet and will remain stiff if not dried adequately.

Once they are clean, most people who wish to decontaminate their whips apply a heavy coat of Isopropyl 70% rubbing alcohol to the necessary parts, scrubbing with a soft brush to reach all surfaces. Spin the whip to aid in the natural process of evaporation.

Cleaning and decontamination removes the natural oils in leather. It is these natural oils which preserve and give the leather its life. Without replacing these natural oils the leather will become stiff and hard and lose its character and flexibility.

To recondition leather, use a "leather dressing" like Dubbin or Lexol or Pecards. For tails other than black, be sure to use a neutral color product. Avoid mink oil, a waterproofing agent. as it complicates the cleaning process and leaves the tails sticky and heavy. Make sure the whip is dry before you apply a small amount of the dressing. Work it into the leather with your bare hands, allow a couple of hours for absorption, then wipe off any excess with a soft cloth.

As the oils in your whip evaporate, the leather loses strength and flexibility. Pecards leather dressing restores the lost oils in leather and protects the fibers with a select combination of waxes. Care must be taken to make sure that you don't over condition your whips and that is why we recommend Pecards dressing over the oil. Leather will absorb only as much as needed of the dressing as opposed to the oil. After having applied the dressing, let the whip sit 24 to 48 hours (depending on thickness of leather and dryness) in room temperature. Lightly buff with a clean, soft cloth any excess dressing that might still be on the surface of the leather.

How often you condition your whip depends on several factors.... 1) how much use you give it, 2) the type of climate you live in, 3) the thickness of the leather used, 4) whether the whip has gotten moderately wet or not. If your not sure whether its time to condition the whip yet just figure on doing it every 6 months at the bare minimum.

Of course make sure that your whip is dry and free from dirt and foreign substances before conditioning. Sand is a main culprit in cutting leather fibers. Grains of sand work their way in-between the braided leather and as you work the whip the sand saws at the fibers. It is extremely difficult to get sand out from the braid once it is there so an ounce of prevention.....you know the rest.

A braided leather handle and the knot work on a whip requires slightly different care than the rest of the whip. Pecards leather dressing lubricates the leather causing it stretch a little in order to encourage flexibility in the leather. While this is the desired effect with the thong and fall, it is not what you want with a braided leather handle or the knot work. First off, do not treat them as often as you would the thong and fall. Over dressing a braided handle of a whip can in time cause the leather to become loose and slide on the handle assembly. Aside from keeping them clean, try to use only enough leather dressing to keep the leather in good shape. Wipe on an extremely light coat, then wipe it off to remove the excess.

This is also the case with the fancy knot work on whips. You want to keep those knots tight so that it doesn't loosen up and become undone. An occasional wipe on wipe off with Pecards leather dressing is ok.

There is no certified method of decontaminating whips which may have been exposed to H.I.V. or other communicable diseases. The only 100% safe solution seems to be the rule: use each whip on no more than one person.