Best tack cleaning products...

metalmare

metalmare

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There are so many...

I'm not so much wondering about brands as product types: oils, soaps, sprays, etc.

At the moment I'm using neatsfoot oil on leather as it is supposed to waterproof as well as cleaning and suppling, but I don't know whether to use it in conjunction with something else?

The synthetic saddle gets a quick wipe over, as does the synthetic girth.

What about for stirrup irons? I need to replace mine as they're too tarnished and too large for me... but how to prevent tarnishing in the future?

Thanks.
 
I oil with neatsfoot on underside then use oakwood saddle soap then oakwood conditioner, its fab, best method Ive come up with over the years, I love tack cleaning
 
Looking at replies so far, defo sounds like I need to be cleaning and conditioning with a soap / cream...

as well as oiling?

instead of oiling?

I've used the oil on a new lunge cavesson as it said to oil before first use.
 
I use Grand Prix leather gloss it cleans/ conditions / oils ect and the small tub lasts ages. I bought mine 2 years ago and i have used 3/4 of a tub and i clean my tack every week with it, it also gives a great shine to my tack when i go to shows, but does not transfer onto johds ect...
I also oil mine every 2 months, wipe over with warm water and small touch of Fairy liquid then allow to fully dry, then i brush oil on with a trimmed paintbrush paying extra attention to buckle holes and the underside of the leatherwork.
Hope this helps.
Teresa
 
Yeah, that's really helpful, thank you. I want to make sure I'm getting it right with his old tack before I invest in a new bridle! I'll look up the GP leather gloss, too.
 
Ko-Kao-lin (sp?) Red stuff that comes in a tin for anything that needs restoring or new stiff tack.
Stubben liquid soap for regular cleaning, fantastic stuff and value for money in terms of how far it spreads & caring for the leather.
Carr day & Martin glycerine bar for adding a shine after cleaning.
Stirrups, buy good quality, mine are 19yrs old & still look good. Only tend to clean them for going out somewhere, then use cheap metal cream. The brasso wadding for silver is good for tarnishing. And I did use the stuff for cleaning/restoring alloy wheels on a rank pair once with good results.
 
Can I chime in as a saddle fitter?

Please don't oil your tack - oil penetrates between the fibres and loosens them, stretching the leather and making it weaker. This is why it makes it feel soft. As it soaks in it really doesn't waterproof it either.

REALLY old dry tack can take a certain amount of oil on the reverse of thick leather only, but most new leather, or leather in use doesn't need it, even if it's been soaked.

Glycerine soap - just like our skin, soap isn't ideal for leather as the ph is all wrong. Glycerine isn't a true conditioner, it is a humectant - it absorbs water in the atmosphere so it keeps the leather moist in that way, but in our climate that is seldom a problem! This damp effect means it's not great in two ways - it can encourage mould growth and it is sticky - quit using glycerine and you should have hardly any grease jockeys (or is that a very 1980s BHS term :D). I stopped using it over 10 years ago and not a single grease jockey in that time.

Anything you use as a cleanser should be rinsed off - you'd not use an all in one shower gel and moisturiser and not rinse it off, so don't do it to your tack. And really, one step products are a poor compromise.

Instead keep it simple - an old fashioned woven white dishcloth from the supermarket, elbow grease and warm water will deal with most tack if you clean it fairly regularly. If you need a cleanser some are harsh and might strip colour and condition from you leather - I have had some success with the Leather Therapy cleanser and found it mild.

Then, when it is needed, a light application of conditioner. New tack should be conditioned often, but very sparingly. Never soak your tack in a ton of anything. Good conditioners contain a little oil but more waxes etc, and ones I like include Oakwood conditioner, Stubben Hamanol, Effeax Lederbalsam and the Leather Therapy products again.

We used to get away with treating our tack with the wrong products because it was tanned so well and was from older animals. Since foot and mouth the leather is from younger animals and isn't tanned quite as well. I've read up some proper scientific justifcations of these recommended treatments and they make sense to me - if anyone wants further reading a poster called c4 has written some great stuff in the Tack Trunk of the UDBB forum. I only recommend what he has analysed the ingredients for - too many others contain petroleum distillates and other harsh drying chemicals.
 
Very interesting sbloom, I think I have read this before from you.

I do find that my leather, left untreated too long, does become too dry, not in a stiff way, but it almost looks slightly furry. Also new saddles are so dry they seem to cry out for oil... I'm not wanting overly soft leather, but do want suppleness and protection against showers.

I don't go mad cleaning tack, but do use hydrophane oil on the underside of the leather now and again, and use stubben saddle soap on all of it afterwards.
 
Very interesting, sbloom, can I butt in and ask you the best way to remove said grease jockeys (the term goes back to the 1960s at least) used to use a ball of horse hair in circular movements. Thanks and sorry OP :o
 
Agree with Sbloom re cleaning well with just water and a good cloth (I use an old flannel), I believe that you should neve put any soap, conditioner, cleaner, oil or whatever else on top of dirt, it will only seal it in. I am not a big fan of putting anything much on leather (just makes it greasy and attract more dirt), just a drop of neatsfoot, kocoline or Effax if it gets really dry and a light coating of old fashioned soap (currently have Stubben soap, which is lush, looks like glycerine but according to the ingredients it's glycrine free) for a little shine.

Some of my tack is nearly as old (some even older) than me and it still looks good and free from jockeys.
 
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I used to use my fingernails (very gently!), now I'd say that an old fashioned dishcloth would shift them if they're not to bedded in. I do think horse hair is still a good way to go though.

And as I said before, oil is not a great waterproofer - you need something that stays on the surface of the leather and that is something with wax in it.
 
As a child we cleaned the pony`s tack by using ,firstly,a blunt old knife on the "pony side" of the bridle to scrape off the cruddy scurf etc,then neatsfoot,then good old Belvoir glycerine saddle soap bar used barely wet. Nowadays I ust Cho-Co-Line to invigorate the leather,I might completely wash really dirty stuff beforehand,it is still the old Belvoir soap bar as the finisher though.
 
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