While neatsfoot oil will work very well to re-soften it, it may also leave it more prone to attracting dirt and dust and will eventually make it look more like leather than suede, if it is suede now. I use neatsofoot to recondition leather quite often but it is not great for outdoor suede. I agree with Rich on this and I learned the hard way. If you want to try it most tack shops (horse shops) will stock it. I do find that even leather will attract more dirt and grime than I would like, with neatsfoot oil.

I have been using 303 High Tech Fabric Guard now on my exterior suede for over ten years, dodger, wheel etc. and the suede holds up amazingly well, remains water proof and supple and does not attract dirt and grime, and if it does, it cleans up easily. On my last boat the suede still looked new the last time I saw it and this was going on six years. On this boat I never got a chance to do anything to the suede, Lewmar folding wheel, and now it's too late and I'll need to recover it as the suede is in poor shape from just three years of exposure. Of course I think Lewmar used a very poor grade of hide too..

Perhaps my inability to treat it was purposeful in that I have always hated the color of the brown suede on my Lewmar folding wheel.. Now I get the color I like and I will treat it from day one...;) When new I apply three coats of HTFG over about a three or four day period and then you're good to go for a while. A natural bristle brush seems to work best for application. I agree with Rich in that neatsfoot will re-soften the leather but tend to add a caution as to what happens after that..