Hydrator 3.3

Hydrator 3.3 by Leather Doctor is a hydrating pre-conditioner and pH balancer to soften leather and suede stiffness and relax the tension before Fatliquor 5.0.

Hydrator 3.3 is a water-based pH-3.3 leather-safe hydrator used mainly as a relaxing pre-conditioner during fatliquor reconditioning to soften leather with multi-functional abilities both on to the surface and within the leather structure.

Hydrator 3.3 surface abilities are primary to check for a surface even tension-free of blotchiness before fatliquor reconditioning.

Hydrator 3.3 structural penetrating abilities will require saturating leather to an optimum level with moisture oozing out when gently pressed between thumb and fingers.

People Also Ask: Questions related to Hydrator 3.3:

What is Leather Surface Tension?

Leather surface tension prevents liquid penetration and uneven absorption may result in undesirable blotchiness.

How to Inspect for Leather Surface Tension?

The leather surface is lightly mist sprayed with Hydrator 3.3 and wipe with a lint-free towel to free of uneven surface tension when inspecting for an even darkening appearance at an angle. 

How to Remove Fatliquor Surface Residue?

Fatliquor unwanted sticky and shining surface residue remaining on the leather is removed with Hydrator 3.3. The suspended residue appears cloudy and is brushed with Hydrator 3.3 into the leather until the liquid turns crystal clear. 

How to Remove wicked Moisture from the Leather Surface?

The crystal clear moisture on the leather surface is towel extracted until the towel shows dry.

How to Dry leather?

Leather is dry at ambient room temperature with low humidity or a dehumidifier to remove excess humidity for a quick dry without using heat. Slow drying produces a softer leather.

How to Soften Leather after Drying?

When almost dry, the leather is staked, stretched, or massaged to completely dry for the desired suppleness 

What is Leather Stiffness?

Leather stiffness is the result of leather fiber structure that becomes sticks together when leather commonly gets wet and dry again. Severe stiffness results when fatliquor leached out during water damage and is exposed to fast-drying heat. Stiff leather should be handled with caution from cracking it 

What is Leather Unnatural Crease?

A leather unnatural crease is an unnatural wrinkle resulting from the collapsing empty leather fiber structure due to diminishing fatliquor (fat and oil) content.

How to Restore Unnatural Crease?

An unnatural crease is restored by saturating the leather thickness to an optimum level with moisture oozing out when gently pressed between fingers and thumb with Hydrator 3.3.

How to Relax the Leather Thickness?

The leather after saturation with Hydrator 3.3 is left to dwell for up to 72 hours with periodic topping up when the leather surface becomes dry. Depending on the environment for a long dwell, Mold Killer 3.6 is recommended to control mold and mildew growth. 

How to Work out the Unnatural Crease?

The unnatural crease is manipulated by staking, stretching, massaging, or cross-flexing to relax the leather to satisfaction in conjunction with continuing saturating with Hydrator 3.3.

When to begin Fatliquor Replenishing after Working Out the Unnatural Crease?

Fatliquor replenishing begins when the excess moisture content is removed with a dry towel extraction until the towel remains dry from wiping and the leather is still damp with Hydrator 3.3. Fatliquor reconditioining begins before the leather is completely dry.

When to Clean up Fatliquor Surface Residue?

Fatliquor surface residue is cleaned up after the leather is left to slowly dry and any surface shining residue is further driven into the leather structure by brushing, in conjunction with Hydrator 3.3 until milky residue if any turns crystal clear is extracted with a cotton towel until the towel shows dry.

How to Soften Fatliquor Replenished Drying Leathers?

Fatliquor replenished drying leather is further physically softened by staking, stretching, massaging, or cross-flexing one more time before the leather is completely dried for the desired suppleness. The best result is manipulating the after-fatliquor leather structure still slightly damp to dryness for the extra desired suppleness.

What is Leather Structure Cleaning?

Leather structure cleaning is the suspension and removal of penetrated soiling to the surface by a wicking process and towel extraction.

How does Leather Structure Cleaning Work?

Structural cleaning of penetrated soiling will need appropriate leather-safe products like Hydrator 3.3 to penetrate, lubricate and suspend the soiling. To move the suspended soiling will need to hydrate the leather structure with enough liquid so that a wicking process takes place for the suspended soiling to be towel extracted. As each wicking process can carry so much soiling, repeat hydration of the leather structure is necessary until an entire load of soiling is removed from the surface.

How to Remove Suspended Soiling?

Suspended soiling is removed by squeezing extraction between an absorbent towel and a smooth spatula to reduce abrasion until the towel shows clean.

When to Replenish Fatliquor after Leather Structural Cleaning?

Leather fatliquor reconditioning begins after leather structural cleaning and while the leather is still slightly damp.

How to Replenish Fatliquor on a Damp Leather?

Fatliquor 5.0 is applied and distributed for even absorption until saturation and is left to slow natural drying. When almost dry, the repeat cycle of application, distribution, absorption, saturation, and slow-natural drying is repeated until the leather absorbs no more.

How to Remove Fatliquor Surface Residue?

Unwanted fatliquor surface residue is removed by re-absorption into the leather structure once activated by Hydrator 3.3 turning the milky residue if any crystal clear. Surface moisture is then cotton towel extracted until the towel shows dry.

How to Soften Drying Leather after Cleaning up with Hydrator 3.3?

After cleaning up with Hydrator 3.3 the leather is softened by staking, stretching, massaging, or cross-flexing one more time before the leather is completely dried for the desired suppleness.

What is Dye Bleeding?

Dye bleeding is the leaching out of the dyestuff from the leather protein fiber, common with dye-through aniline leathers and suede. Dye becomes easily transferrable when rubbed on and can easily be detected with a white towel on damp leather. The higher the pH value of liquid above 7, the more the leather bleeds.

How to Control Dye Bleeding?

A low pH value product like Hydrator 3.3 is used and in severe cases, a lower pH Acidifier 2.0 is used as a booster. The entire dye bleeding panel is saturated to increase the hydrogen bond between the dyestuff and the leather protein fiber.

What is Leather Tackiness?

Leather tackiness is the leaching out of the tanning agents from the protein leather fiber and the leather becomes tacky or slimy when damp.

How to Control Leather Tackiness?

The control of leather tackiness is through restoring the alkaline over-exposure area by facilitating colloidal water movement to redistribute the tanning agents from surrounding areas back to the affected areas with Hydrator 3.3 and Acidifier 2.0 as a pH booster is recommended. A squeaky feel with finger testing determines a satisfactory result.

How to Restore Sun-Fading Leather?

Sun fading, sun bleaching, or dye fading refers to the loss of leather color under sunlight or UV light overexposure. When leather is dyed through the reverse side, the hidden dyestuff within the structure may be activated to refresh through the surface with Hydrator 3.3. Color intensity is further boosted with Fatliquor 5.0 fat and oil. The desired result will depend on excess dyestuff within the leather structure and the dwell time for the hydration to release the excess dyestuff to resurface, and the result may vary from the quality of the original dyeing process.

How to Reverse Transfer Penetrated Suspended Soiling?

Penetrated suspended soiling after specialty cleaning is reverse-transfer by capillary action or a wicking process is deployed to move soiling particulates to resurface with a wettable towel and Hydrator 3.3 reverse-transfer technique.

How Reverse-Transfer Technique Work?

First, the leather structure needs to be hydrated and saturated with Hydrator 3.3 to facilitate colloidal water movement within the structural inter-fibrillary spaces to move the suspended soiling upwards. As it wicks through the wettable towel, soilings particulates are trapped instead of still remaining on the leather surface to be easily peeled off.

How to Restore the pH Neutral of Leather?

Leather has an average pH value of 3 to 5 when reading is taken from a leather pH meter. Leather is an amphoteric material or a pH-sensitive protein fiber. Alkaline solution with a pH value of 7 will shift the protein fiber ionic negative (-ve), while the other common constituents like the tanning agents, dyestuff, and fatliquor are non-amphoteric and remains ionic negative (-ve). Thus behaving like a magnet, “both negative poles repel each other”, the constituent breaks the hydrogen bond with the protein fiber, and the leather denatures or reverts to rawhide. Breaking of hydrogen bonds between the protein fibers and their constituents often manifests as tackiness, bleeding, and stiffness when leather gets wet and dry again. Charging of the protein fibers ionic positive (+ve) has to go below its iso-electric point. Thus in extreme cases, besides Hydrator 3.3, Acidifier 2.0 with a pH value of 2.0 accelerates the ionic positive (+ve) charging processes to restore the pH neutrality of leather.

How to Remove Fatliquor Residue from Leather Surface?

Fatliquor 5.0 with its fat and oil content is essential to restore leather suppleness structurally, any surface residue may alter the leather's original surface luster and attracts soiling. Removing unabsorbed fatliquor surface residue is done by brushing with appropriate brushes while spraying with Hydrator 3.3 turning any milky residue to crystal clear.

How to Restore Shrinkaged Leather?

Leather shrinkage is often experienced when leather is water damaged in conjunction with fast heat drying from the sun. Another common dry shrinkage is from the intense heat from other sources or fireplaces. Heat evaporates the fatliquor (fat and oil); the leather fibers shrunk, become stuck together, and result in stiffness. Fatliquor is the lifeblood of leather and with deficiency, the leather stiffens up and easily leads to tearing or cracking. Shrinkage restoration is performed with Hydrator-3.3 as a preconditioner, Fatliquor 5.0 to replenish the fat and oil, and again Hydrator 3.3 to clean up the surface sticky residue.

How to Lay Flat a Cowhide and other Hair-on-Rug?

Cowhide and other hair-on-rug may not lie flat the first time. Curls at the edges normally reflect drops in percentages of fat and oil content. This refuses-to-lay flat phenomenon is directly related to the dryness of its original fatliquor. The optimum average percentage of fat and oil content averages 14% (read from a leather moisture meter). A moisture meter may show a percentage fluctuation of fat and oil moisture level from area to area. To restore and put the rug to lay flat to satisfaction, the rug has to be hydrated to even out its uneven tension in addition to fatliquor replenishing to increase its suppleness. Without topping up its fat and oil content the rug will stiff up and eventually leads to tears and cracks. Hydrating with Hydrator 3.3 to precondition the rug prior to fatliquor replenishing with Fatliquor 5.0 softens up the hide to lay flat much more easily.

Why Not to Over Relax an Embossed or Handcrafted Leather?

Not all embossed leathers are strongly created by a mechanical hot plating hydraulic press, some are softly handcrafted and any prolonged hydration may relax the embossing out with Hydrator 3.3.

From https://leatherdoctor.com/sheepskin-care-kit-sr3/#product-reviews:

The Lazarus Effect 

Product Review - Posted by Larry Bauman on 31st Jul 2017

This product revived my 40 year old Sheepskin coat that cracked at the touch of it after applying another company's 'Restoration' product. That other product ruined my coat, and I was about to throw it away, but took a chance on the Leather Doctor. After applying Hydrator 3.3, I saw an immediate change. I then continued with the Fatliquor 5.0, and was shocked to see the change. My coat is now as soft and supple as it was when I purchased it in 1975! Don't even take a chance on valuable leathers with other companies' products, this one will amaze you with its results.