Leave it, wipe it or clean it?

Tack cleaning - what do you do?

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Good leather tack costs and every time I'm feeling a bit slack, I just see $$$$$ .........

Gotta love synthetic endurance tack though, just chuck it in a bucket and hang it up.
 
My bridles generally get strip cleaned once per week, if I am going somewhere with them and they need cleaning more than once per week I tend to clean them the second time without taking them apart. I wash bits off if they are really dirty after being ridden. My saddles always get cleaned before hunting/competing but generally less often than the bridles as they don't get as dirty.
 
Hexx said:
My tack gets cleaned every time I use it
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This - and it lives at home in a lovely warm, central heated house! Keeps the leather lovely and supple. Just back from a week away with the ponies and the tack stayed in the storage area next to the stables, it was still cleaned every time we rode but the leather just felt horrible and damp despite being stored in a dry area.
 
I clean mine (tack taken apart and numnah washed) about every 3 months. I use water to clean and rub saddle soap in after to condition it. In between cleans it isn't wiped over or anything.
 
I clean mine almost weekly and often more, strip it and clean it I am naughty though as the ponies live out and have very waterproof greasy coats I use a drop or two of Fairy liquid in the water then saddle soap and on special occasions leather food, I oil about twice or three times a year Tack still looks like new and is almost 20 years old so I guess it works for mine. Trouble is the kids don't look after it so it now sports a few teeth marks which I am slowly rubbing out
Saddle cloths are washed very regularly for the same reasons
 
I clean mine with a damp cloth then rub over with Effax before hunting or competing. And after if it gets wet and muddy. Other than that I generally have a system of neglect........
 
Bit rinsed every ride. Synthetic tack just rub the caggy bits off if not competing so it probably gets a proper clean once a month. Leather tack gets stripped before competing, unless it's only just been done and gets a wipe over. It varies a lot between weekly and annually depending on what pony it's used on :p I did go through a stripping phase each ride, that passed :p
 
I clean mine before a comp, and clean the bit when it looks a bit gross in between. I use Belvoir leather balsam after water and elbow grease!! (When I do clean it, it gets properly cleaned...)
 
One a month saddle and bridle are strip cleaned with hot water, a drop of fairy liquid and a drop of olive oil. Then plastered in Belvoir leather balm for half an hour and polished off. Bit gets washed after every used as do stirups and girth (synthetic) to get the sand/mud off and saddle gets wiped over with saddle wipes after every ride.
 
I've got a bit slack with my tack (hangs head in shame!!).
I wash the bits off every time I ride, but rarely do a complete strip down - maybe 3-4 times a year at most.
I will wipe tack down, often with baby wipes, and rub a bit of leather balsam on if lucky before an outing (lesson/show) which is probably fortnightly
 
There's no option for "only before dressage" . In my defence though that's about once every 6 weeks so more than some!
I rinse the bit every time and give my bridle a wipe over if I've got time after riding*

* I rarely have time after riding :D
 
As my bridle is made of Biothan I wipe it over every time I use it along with the bit.

Saddle cloths clean for every ride. Booties (on saddle panels)get changed weekly and my saddle is cleaned weekly.

Boots hosed off after each ride and washed weekly.
 
Going into labour always made me strip and oil the driving harnesses. Not sure why. It gave me something physical to focus on, and I couldn't leave the house, so it was good to get something 'done'.

I don't think they've been fully taken apart since.
 
I love tack cleaning - everything gets cleaned after every use (even just a quick wipe over if I'm in a rush) and conditioned regularly, I take it all apart about once a month to check stitching etc. Bit gets well cleaned after every use (can't understand people who don't do this!). Boots usually get thrown in the washing machine after every winter hack as they are always filthy, if schooling or hacking in summer then I brush them down to get rid of any sand/light dirt and air them and wash properly once a week-ish. Numnahs get washed every use as she gets them so hot and sweaty, she has lots of them so I put them all in a stack and do a big wash once a week.
 
I'm a bridle making and leather repairer and have to confess that I'm really bad at cleaning my own tack but at the same time very judgemental about people who send me dirty tack to repair (I charge them extra for time taken to clean it).
 
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