Neatsfoot oil is a yellow oil rendered and purified from the feet and shin bones (not the hooves) of cattle. It is used as a conditioning, softening and preservative for leather, and remains liquid down to a low temperature. Rendering is an industrial process that converts waste animal tissue into stable, value-added materials. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (called cows in vernacular and contemporary usage, kine or kyne in pre-modern English, or kye as the Scots plural of cou) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... Modern leather-working tools Leather is a material created through the tanning of hides, pelts and skins of animals, primarily cows. ...

Neatsfoot oil is produced much less than it once was. Currently, the shins and feet of cattle are usually rendered along with the rest of the body. Also, many products sold as neatsfoot oil are actually diluted with petroleum oil, which is bad for leather. Rendering is an industrial process that converts waste animal tissue into stable, value-added materials. ...

The best quality neatsfoot oil comes from the legs of calves. The fat in animals' legs generally has a lower melting point than the body fat which means that it is more fluid and easier to use at lower temperatures making it more effective for treating leather.

'Neat' in the oil's name comes from an old term for animals of the genus Bos, especially cattle. In biology, a genus (plural genera) is a taxonomic grouping. ... Species Bos aegyptiacus B. frontalis B. grunniens B. javanicus B. sauveli B. taurus Bos is the genus of wild and domestic cattle or oxen. ...

See also

• neatsfire
• Dippel's oil, another oil derived from bone
• Cattle