Ok, Me bad! Help tack cleaning

chickeninabun

chickeninabun

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I confess. I am VERY bad at cleaning my tack.:o
It only really gets done when I'm going to a show/dressage:eek:, but I only ride about 3 times a week so it doesn't get really really dirty. But it does have quite a lot of grease on the underside.

What's the best way to get the greasy/mucky bits off the underside of a bridle?:confused: I normally just wipe it with water and/or saddle soap and then put Oakwood leather conditioner on it, put that doesn't get the dark greasy bits off the raw underside of the leather.
 
You bad non cleaning tack person you! :D

Oakwood also do a very good leather cleaner - use this first and then apply the conditioner.

If you do it once a week it'll be a lot less hard work ;)
 
Once a week!?!?! That's more than I ride sometimes!:D
So if I just get off my ar$e and use some elbow grease (and maybe a little cleaner too) then I should be able to scrub the greasy bits off?? Am worried about scrubbing too hard and damaging the leather, it is a very nice Jeffries bridle I got for my birthday last year!:rolleyes:
 
Whenever I clean my tack I use the Belvoir sprays - cleaner first, followed by conditioner.

Now that makes me sound like I clean my tack regularly. Nope.

In fact I've been at my new yard for 4 months and have cleaned it once :o. My daughters may have done it I suppose, but I'm not holding my breath. It's not that dirty though - in fact I'm only a happy hacker nowadays. I realise I'm digging a hole for myself trying to justify my laziness, but life's too short! I do check for cracks/worn parts etc, so please no-one come down on me!! Also, my horse doesn't wear a bit so no grim crusty mouthpiece.

A lovely friend of mine at my old yard used to clean her tack thoroughly after literally every ride, taking it apart, running a blunt knife over the parts of the bridle to scrape all the grease off etc. etc. Hmmmmmm. Made us mortals feel very small!!
 
I use the belvoir tack cleaners first, If I can't be bothered to give it a good scrub with just water.

At my old work they used to clean the hunters tack first with warm water and fairy washing up liquid!
 
I use both the cleaner and the conditioner from Carr Day and Martin, in the spray bottles, brilliant stuff.

I use those little cheap tesco value sponges, they have the green pan type scrubber side on one side of the sponge, I use that to scrub any grease of the underside of the bridle but they don't really get greased up much really, but i wouldn't scrub the outer side otherwise it would scratch the leather work. I think if you use a conditioner the grease doesn't tend to stick on the leather work as much, plus if you use plenty of babywipes around the nose area to keep the area clean it won't rub off onto your bridle as much. :)
 
This may sound really bad/weird but if your tack is really manky then swarfega is really good! Like if you have some tack that has been sitting around unused for ages and has gone hard and mildewy, or is really very greasy. It's also good if you have a new bridle that is stiff and sort of waxy from the stuff the manufacturers put on to keep it looking nice. You only need a very small amount, rub it in well and then thoroughly wipe it off. You can then clean/oil it as usual.
 
I use absolutely boiling water... cloth/sponge rung out so its piping hot but not soaking wet and hold it over the greasy areas to soften it and then wipe it off. Always worked for me, then soap it as normal.

*awaits someone telling her this is damaging to leather* :o :p
 
I love cleaning tack! :D

Use water as hot as you can bear, and put some tea tree oil in it (1-2 drops are enough)
Then get a cloth and put in water, wring it out and clean the tack first - make sure you give it a good clean and take off all the grease. You can use your nail on the underside to "loosen" it if it is really bad ;)
Then wet the soap (I use stubben soap - it is the best imo) and NOT the sponge
put the soap onto the sponge and clean :)
If you get it so tack become sticky then it is very clean :)
 
I use my fingernails to scratch off the little nuggets of grease (I think these are called jockeys?!). As Kenzo says I probably wouldn't do that on the outside of the leather for fear of scratching it but it works just fine on the inside.

Wrecks your nails but what horsey person has nice nails?!
 
I was taught - if its REALLY greasy - as in a layer - to use a 2p to scrape the grease off. Then, get a sponge, dip it in the water and squeeze the life out of it - leave ot one side. Then warm water - no soap and with a damp cloth wipe it down and get the grease off. Then take the sponge and squeeze again - ideally wrapped in a dry cloth - then rub away at the saddle soap and then apply to saddle.

Never get saddle soap frothy!

And I found the best soap was this Stubben stuff in a cream tub, although the new style liquid stuff is quite good to. I only ever use oil on brand new uncleaned tack to soften it. However, I have found that if you wash new tack every day for a week with saddle soap it will soften to - and better for stitches.

I have not yet cracked getting a saddle to stay shiney though!
 
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