Fiebing's leathercraft sponges

Details

A two-pack of applicator sponges. Fiebing's makes them for leathercraft work — laying down dyes, stains and top finishes — and they do the one thing a rag cannot, which is put an even, controlled amount of liquid onto the leather instead of dumping most of it in the first spot you touch. Use a fresh sponge for each product and each colour. Dye that has dried into a sponge comes back out the next time you wet it, and finding that out halfway across a light-coloured project is an expensive lesson. They are cheap enough to treat as consumable, but it is still worth setting one aside for a colour you go back to often. Load the sponge lightly and work in overlapping passes, keeping a wet edge so you do not get lap marks where a dried section meets a fresh one. Squeeze the excess back into the can rather than onto the leather. They also work well for saddle soap and conditioners on tack, where a sponge holds a lather better than a cloth and lets you feel how much water you are putting into the leather.