best leather cleaner?

weesophz

weesophz

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my tack in desperate need of a good clean, but i cant decide on what would be the best cleaner to use? i used to use those belvoir wipes but they werent that great.

can anyone suggest me something thats going to make my tack pretty pretty again?!
 
I use the good old leather saddle soap. To clean thoroughly I'd get some warm water and sponge it, put on leather conditioner and then leave and put saddle soap on. For a general clean I'd use the step one spray, then the step 2 spray and jobs a good'un!
 
OneStep isn't something I'd recommend, definitely NOT as one step! Anything used as a cleanser must be rinsed off therefore it can't condition. If you have really tough to shift dirt then I only recommend two - Leather Therapy Cleanser and Effax Ledercombi. I know of others that have stripped colour from leather.

Glycerine saddle soap ultimately makes your tack more dirty - it attracts water, gets sticky, the dirt sticks to it. Life is easier once you stop using it ;) For most instances, warm water, elbow grease and a good old fashioned woven dishcloth does the job.
 
I use One Step on my boots and it does a fantastic job, but not on my tack, I prefer saddle soap cleaned off and then a touch of KoChoLine rubbed in with my finger tips or cloth.
 
Warm water, a sponge and some elbow grease to clean and then a leather balsam (I use Effax) to condition.

No oil. No glycerine.

P
 
I am currently in possession of a very expensive Schleese saddle which I am test riding for them. It came with instructions to use a good leather conditioner on it each time for the first 10 or so times, and was given Passier to use on it. So I guess that is as good an endorsement as you can get really. It is nice stuff and has brought up my stirrup leathers a treat.
 
Most conditioners contain some oil, neatsfoot oil, Hydrophane dressing etc is OIL as it were :) abnd best avoided.

All saddle makers recommend different things - conditioner is indeed better as a whole than anything else and is what the leather makers (certainly Sedgewicks do and they produce much of the upper end leather used in Walsall) recommend. I only recommend a handful as I know their ingredients are "safe" and I have no idea what is in any others as they don't have to list the ingredients :mad:
 
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