Best saddle soap and/or saddle conditioner?

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MuddyMonster

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I'm currently using an all-in-one saddle cream but I'm finding it's leaving my tack feeling quite greasy and with white marks.

Should I be using a saddle soap first and then using a seperate saddle conditioner?

What would brands or types would you recommend? After hacking this morning my saddle is very, very dirty so was planning on visiting a tack shop tomorrow to stock up!

I know this sounds like an idiotic question, but I've always had synthetic tack up until this point, so saddle soap quandries are new to me ...!
 
Clean with an old fashioned cotton knitted dishcloth and hand hot water and condition with the stuff from cremedemonthe on here - www.unicornleathers.co.uk. Saddle soap is the wrong ph for leather, isn't a great cleanser and glycerine isn't really a conditioner either...and most conditioners contain nasty solvents, even if they list lots of lovely nice ingredients.
 
I'm a bridle maker and tack repairer and the product I use and recommend to all my customers is Wilf Whites Leather Soap https://www.pegasushealth.com/product/Wilf_Whites_Original_Leather_Soap - it cleans and conditions in one and does not contain any nastiest like glycerine. I make my own leather conditioner based on the Oz's recipe (basically animal fats and beeswax but only really need it if I'm restoring badly neglected leather; the Wilf Whites covers virtually all my everyday needs.
 
I use the Albion natural leather balm it's not cheap but the tack looks and feels lovely I also use the Rapide leather cream I like that too.
 
I like a bit of Horseman's One Step myself, does the job for me - but interesting reading other suggestions, might have to look into the Wilf Whites stuff pansymouse :)
 
I was always a staunch warm water with a touch of fairy and glycerine bar saddle soap person, I also like the glycerine spray.

I accidently bought the tack cleaning spray instead of the glycerine spray a while back (bottles are almost identical) I decided since I had it I might as well give it a try. Have to admit cleaning the tack first with this and then using the conditioner spray gives a fantastic finish. I would still use the old fashioned method for really dirty tack but when it's just slightly dirty or to polish up for a show it great.
 
Pansymouse when you say it cleans and conditions in one, do you mean that you don't need to "wash" the tack clean first before applying it?
 
I clean the dirt off with a damp microfibre cloth if it's very dirty and then use the Wilf Whites; if it's just normal use grubby I do it in one step. If it's mouldy or smells mouldy I use a Milton solution in the first stage cleaning.
 
For those fans of glycerine soap it really isn't suitable for modern leather which is much more highly finished during the tanning process than leather was when glycerine based products entered the market. What actually happens is that it leaves a sticky residue on the surface of the leather to which dust and sweat sticks making your tack get dirtier quicker.
 
I can thoroughly recommend cremdemonthe's leather conditioner. I used to use Effax, but Oz's stuff is soooo much better!

The Effax has been demoted to doing car seats :D
 
I've just messaged unicorn leather about postage to NI. Hopefully I can get some soon :)

At the moment I use effax or the spray glycerine..

Fiona
 
I used to use Horseman's One Step (have seen that used in the weighing room at Cheltenham Racecourse BTW). I also have the Albion Leather Balm which is lovely, but I've recently used NAF's Leather Cleanse Spray and been very impressed with the results. Probably the best product I've used to date.
 
I know of that cleanser stripping the colour out of one of our saddles. This is why I recommend only an old fashioned cotton knitted dishcloth and hand hot water, you can't go wrong, and with a bit of elbow grease you can get any saddle clean.
 
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