Saddle fits but its old and tatty, how can I clean it up?!

seoirse

seoirse

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My horse of 6 months came with tack and the saddle fits him and me really well, its a nice saddle, cliff barnsby, but its been VERY well used and its quite battered. It's perfectly useable but the seat and saddle flaps look grubby like they've got raised dirt on them and no matter how well I clean it I can't seem to get it looking nice. I use a bog standard bar of saddle soap and sometimes a bit of oil, which is what I've always used, I realise there are a TON of tack cleaning products on the market now - can anyone recommend anything thats especially good for reviving tired leather?!

Thanks :D
 
Don't use oil or soap! Oil causes leather to stretch and soap is the wrong ph plus us pribably causing those raised lumps - have you tried an old fashioned woven dishcloth and elbow grease? The lumps may be grease jockeys - glycerine attracts water, gets sticky, you can see the rest.

Just find a good conditioner and use sparingly only when needed ie when the leather looks a tiny bit dry, otherwise just clean and use.

Any product that says it is one step - cleansing is supposed to lift dirt, any cleansing chemicals should not be left on leather (you rinse your skin after cleaning it with soap or shower gel right?!) and conditioners actively push into leather...if you're using the same product and cloth/sponge then you have the dirt still in the system, and it will partially be pushed back into the leather....

Rinse cleansers well before using a conditioner, though most leather does not need a cleanser, just warm water and elbOw grease!
 
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I recently cleaned my old saddles and my oldest one, over 30 years old had raised lumps especially near where my boots rubbed. I slathered the area with dubbin and worked it in with a cloth rung out in warm water which softened the lumpy bits then got an old butter knife I.e. non serrated, wrapped it in a damp soft cloth and very very gently scrapped the lumps off. Came up a treat. I then simply conditioned it with more Dubbin and it has come up really well.
I second netsford oil as a no no as I was told it rots the stitching.
Zorbel cream (not sure if you can still get it) is good in getting a nice shine back into the leather too.
 
I think its got quite a few years of 'grease jockeys' on it! :D

As I said I've only had it for 6 months and don't really know where to start with it. It feels tacky and horrible and has lumps on it. Having just read the blurb on the grand prix leather gloss site plus what you guys have said, I think I need to give it a good session with just a cloth and some warm water to get all the crud off then treat it with something more appropriate.

I haven't actually had a leather saddle for over 10 years til now as my last horse had a synthetic saddle so I've sort of forgotten what to do, plus things have changed a bit, plus I've never had one so manky as this!
 
I find that not using glycerine stops grease jockeys forming - I've not used glycerine soap for years and can't remember the last time I found one on my saddle.
 
Here's another vote for horsemans one-step!!

Give the saddle a good clean with warm water and get those "grease jockeys" (excellent phrase!) off.

Then, moisturise with Horsemans. Let it dry. Do it again the next day. Let it dry. Repeat until it's soft and buttery... but not greasy.

Wipe with a dry cloth.

Then, seal with that gloss stuff, or renapur or lederbalsam/effax etc. These products are sealants and will not moisturise as well as the one-step.

I have refurbished quite a few tough saddles in this way... and bridles!
 
Have you got any pictures of it? My first saddle when i got it was very greasy and grubby and nothing i did helped. I took it to my local tack shop (also a saddle fitter) and they said to use wool/flocking on it, just grab a small bit of wool and rub it in small circles all over the dirty area. It did take a while but it worked! the saddle came up brilliant but i never really cleaned it with anything after that as anything i put on it just made it greasy again.

If you are really struggling then i would pop in to your local tack shop/saddlery with it and see if they can recomend anything.
 
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