A little more than a year ago, I got my first Midori Diary (MD) Goat Leather Notebook Cover I originally wrote about this in this blog post where you can see what it looked like right out of the box and a few weeks after. This is an update so you can see what it looks like now. I have traveled with this to Japan and various domestic destinations. I also use this as my everyday journal. I write my morning pages in it.
I suppose I am impatient and it was slowly aging but I knew it could be better. I then remembered a trick I learned in Greece 11 years ago! You can use baby oil or mineral oil (yes that same stuff you oil your cutting board with) to tan raw leather. I said a quick prayer and set to work. Here is what happened:
Comparison of right out of the box, a few months of sitting by the window and after being oiled.
This is what it looked like inside after a year.
Here it is now on top, compared to one out of the box, a display on in the shop.
It has weathered well and I used it daily. I am very glad I treated it.
I am in love all over again with this notebook and of course the exquisite paper inside. Since these super soft natural leather covers come in several sizes: A6, A5, etc. I am going to try the B6 slim one next and try the blank and grid options of the matching MD Paper notebook line.
Midori suggests to leave it by a sunny window which I did and I did not baby it while I used it. I do think that is a fun thing to try, but I also love the way the leather absorbed the oil and how it feels now. Tell us what you try and how it worked for you!