Tack cleaning??!!

I looooove tack cleaning - im obsessed with it!! x I take it all apart and clean it once or twice a week and wipe it clean after riding every day x I use D&h Leather oil and soap, I use warm water on the girth and thats about it! x I love doing it and even get loaded with everyone elses tack if they see me as they know i cant say no!! lol x
 
Tack gets cleaned every time it's used, with a proper clean once a week.

When it's used it's wiped down with water, soaped with glycerine soap and then has Albion Leather Balm put on it. Bits and stirrups are wiped over with a little vinegar in hot water. Boots and numnahs are washed as needed, usually every couple of days.

Weekly it gets taken apart completely, stirrups and bits soaked in hot water with a little vinegar in it. All leatherwork wiped with warm water to get rid of mud and grease, oiled with Neatsfoot, soaped with glycerine soap, and then Albion Leather Balm again.

I know I'm OTT, but my liveries are almost as obsessive about their tack as I am. I would never put dirty tack on a horse when its owner is paying me so much money to look after both their horse and their tack etc.
 
when it looks like it needs it... im lazy and dont like tack cleaning and i just use saddle soap but i do have an array of different ones i also use kokaoline (spelling?) as it is good for scrateches in leather and when it needs a nice shine although its sticky :o
 
I love cleaning my tack - its quick wiped every time its used. Pull straps out of runners and keepers, wash with warm water and then saddle soaped.

After around 7 uses it's stripped cleaned.

All my show tack is washed with warm water that has a squirt of washing up liquid - Sunlight NZ = Fairy Liquid UK. Then when dry the outside is treated with a clear liquid shoe polish and the inside is either lightly oiled and then Glycerined.

The shoe polish keeps the outside shiny and dust free and the oil and Glycerine n the inside feeds the leather. ( I learnt this when I worked for Jennie Lorriston-Clarke).

Every so many months I haul out all my stored gear and have a mammoth tack clean. Due to do in the next week or do.

I use - Belvoir Glycerine, Hydrophane Oil and Kiwi Instant Shine clear shoe polish.
 
Every day bridle gets taken apart and cleaned about every 4 or 5 rides. Bit rinsed after every use.
Posh bridle gets thoroughly cleaned after every use.
Saddles get done when they look like they need it...once a month or so. Numnahs washed every few rides, or straight away if they get very dirty. I use horseman's one step usually.

I'm actually sitting here now looking at my bridle and 2 saddles which I've brought home to clean in front of the fire. :)
 
lcharles - whose d&h?
I am impressed with these answers feel like a very lazy person now, as mine only gets cleaned once in a blue moon which is terrible i know and not good for it, will try and do better!
 
Any body got any tips on cleaning webbing reins - I usually just clean the leather bits but the webbing is looking a bit grubby
 
im obsessed with tack cleaning, could do it for hours!!
I use Belvoir tack cleaner spray and conditioning spray (which smells amazing and also makes your hands really soft ;) )
 
I love tack cleaning :) some at the yard use synthetic just so they dont have to clean but I love it :) although I have completely forgotten what saddle soap i use :confused: lol. Now its going to bug me. Smells of honey and is in a brown pot....anyone? lol. Im having one of those days........

Got it. Amazing what comes up when you google "saddle soap in brown pot"!!! lol. Its Effax leatherbalm. Smells yummy
 
Last edited:
Love it! Wipe clean with a barely damp sponge then a smear of conditioning grease (like Naf, sedgewicks, albion and leder gel atm!!). Patent shine wiped on after cleaning for shows.
 
I clean it with the belvoir cleaning spray after every use, and "deep condition" it each week with belvoir conditioner & effax leatherbalm. Loveeee tack cleaning!!
 
Oooh! I'm dazzled by all those halos :o:o:o I rinse my bit and wipe over Horseman One Step cream by Absorbine every now and then. It cleans and conditions in one - well, that's what they claim ;) It is really good stuff for lazy people like me!! :D:D:D
 
Enfys said:
I think there is a bottle of neatsfoot somewhere, I don't clean my tack. Other than dunking bits after use.
Click to expand...

So, if you do not clean your tack how often do you check for worn stitching?

Most gets wiped over daily here.

I use the best saddle soap ever - Race. it knocks everything else off the shelf. All natural, feeds the leather and best of all, it waterproofs the leather.
 
I did a full clean this week.... But haven't cleaned any of it since July woopsies.

I do dunk the bit in a bucket of water after every ride, does that count for slight redemption???
 
I clean after every use unless massively late. It's a safety issue for me and also, I just think of the costs of replacement!
 
Sam_1985 said:
Got it. Amazing what comes up when you google "saddle soap in brown pot"!!! lol. Its Effax leatherbalm. Smells yummy
Click to expand...

Good stuff and one of the products I recommend.

Glycerine soap - soap is the wrong ph for leather just like it is for skin, glycerine is a poor conditioner, it simply attracts moisture which is what causes it to be sticky and develop grease jockeys. It really doesn't "feed" leather.

Cleansers - not strictly necessary but useful if you have really filthy or greasy tack. Use a gentle one like Effax Ledercombi or the one from Leather Therapy, others have been know to strip the colour from leather.

Water - all you really need to clean tack - use an old fashioned woven dishcloth and elbow grease, warm water but well wrung out. Rinse any cleanser off including saddle soap if you use it directly on dirty leather. You must remove the dirt before conditioning.

Oil - damaging to leather. Old leather was such good quality that we got away with it - oil stretches the fibres in the leather which is what makes it feel soft. Since BSE our leather is from young animals and just not the same.

Conditioners - good ones include Effax Lederbalsam, Stubben Hamanol, Oakwood Conditioner and again Leather Therapy. Contain waxes, lanolin etc that nourish and protect leather. Use as needed, ideally a very light application, though very dry leather can have a heavier application, leave overnight and buff off in the morning.
 
hate tack cleaning, do however have these rare odd days (often coming out of winter, going into winter, and going into summer) where I have to clean everything, take all tack apart, wash all horse brushes, was rugs, boots saddle cloths even haynets !!!

That's about the only time though. I am OCD about saddle cloths and bandages though they get washed and rolled every time they are used !
 
Hate tack cleaning so treat myself to a bottle of wine to drink whilst doing it! Going to try out effax tho, not heard of it before!
 
Only before a show, lesson or hunt - we are out reasonably frequently, however! My bridle has currently gone sticky and nasty...I suspect from too much Belvoir conditioner spray which is nice and easy to give a onceover between proper cleaning... I like their cleaner spray, and suspect I need to use a lot of that to strip the gunge off, leave it to dry properly (it has ben saturated riding in the rain as well), then rub in Hamanol (and buff the following morning). Hopefully this will bring it back from near death....
 
Am another one of those people who actually enjoy tack cleaning .... much much prefer to do my own tack myself and do it as frequently as I can. Find the Belvoir sprays 1 and 2 the best at the moment.
 
Mine gets cleaned reasonably regularly, I degrease it with warm water, let it dry and then use Effax Lederbalsam.

I use a bit of tail hair in a knot to get any bobbles of grease off - a tip from my grandpa!
 
sbloom said:
Glycerine soap - soap is the wrong ph for leather just like it is for skin, glycerine is a poor conditioner, it simply attracts moisture which is what causes it to be sticky and develop grease jockeys. It really doesn't "feed" leather.

Oil - damaging to leather. Old leather was such good quality that we got away with it - oil stretches the fibres in the leather which is what makes it feel soft. Since BSE our leather is from young animals and just not the same.
Click to expand...

Sorry - just don't agree with this in the slightest. I've been involved with horses for almost 50 years now and clean ALL my leather work with Glycerine and if dry a little Hydrophane oil.

I have bridles and saddles that are 20+ years old - still in use and in excellent condition. They are not gluggy, covered in jockeys or sticky. Jockies are the build up of general dirt and grease from NOT cleaning tack regularly.

Much of my tack gets hauled to Pony Club for HM rallies and riders and parents comment on the lovely condition of my tack. My show bridles have a slightly different treatment - the outside is coated with clear self shine bootpolish and the underside glycerined and oiled. None of my tack goes mouldy and much of it lives in plastic storage bins in my garden shed tackroom.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top