Neat's-Foot-Oil a light oil obtained from the bones of cattle. It is a pale yellow, limpid transparent liquid with a freezing point between -4°F and 4°F (-20°C - 15.6°C). A good quality oil is obtained from the feet of oxen and cows, but commercial oils also are made from cattle shinbones and sheep and horse bones.

"Prime Neat's-foot-oil" is a term used for a blend of pure neat's foot oil and non-organic oils, generally mineral oil. This blend of oil is usually marketed as "the saddlemaker's choice". But many saddle makers recommend pure neat's-foot-oil as being superior. The best quality neats-foot-oil still comes from the legs of calves and has no mineral oil added. You can buy neat's-foot oil at hardware stores and saddlery shops. It should be used sparingly, as too much of it can make leather soggy and limp.

Uses:

• It is important commercially in the processing and preservation of fine leathers.
• It is also used as fine lubricant for clock works and other delicate machinery.
• Oil obtained from the knucklebones of cattle is also used for canning sardines.
• It is used in making saddle soap
• It is a main ingredient in many leather polishers.
• It is also widely used in the process of tanning hides.

How Neat's-Feet-Oil is obtained: The oil is obtained by boiling the cattle's bones and hooves in water. The oil, which is yellow and fatty (comes from the marrow of the bones) is skimmed off, filtered, run through a vat where organic impurities coagulate, and then refiltered.

• Cattle - animals with horn and hoofs.
• Shin bones - the front of the leg between the knee and the ankle
• Hoofs or Hooves - the horny part of the foot of cattle.
• Saddle - leather seat for riders