What do you use to clean your saddle?

I get that leather is an animal product, but every "animal fat" based conditioning product I have smelt stinks like the BBQ from the night before, that no one cleaned, the morning after. Gross.

Wipe with warm water after use, occasional saddle soap (Stubben one) and I love the Albion leather dressing - not just because it smells nice.
 
Breagha said:
As title says really, there are sooooo many cleaning products out now and just wondering what people swear by these days?
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I make my own which works amazingly!!
I bar of general saddle soap.
3TBS of milk or cream.
2TBS of Neatsfoot oil.
And if you have it a small chunk of bees wax.

Melt the soap and wax and mix the rest in, pour into a bowl and leave to cool, (i dont cover it when cooling)
 
Wintec Saddle cleaner spray on my Wintec dressage saddle (easy-peasy, although I don't do it as often as I should...)

Jeffries bridle - clean the dirt off first with a hot cloth, then use Jeffries saddle cleaner. Once or twice a year I'll use Carr & Day & Vanner; Vanner & Prest Neatsfoot compound. When I used to have a Jeffries Hawk Event saddle, I used this same procedure.

However...

At the time of buying the Jeffries saddle, the saddler told me it's advisable to always use the same make leather conditioner as the make of saddle, as all leather as treated differently by the different saddle makers, so their own leather conditioner/soap would work best on their own saddle.

Oz, what's your comment on the above (was it just sales talk)?

And could you please PM me your article incl your recipe as I trust your opinion :D
 
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I wash the grease and grim off with warm water and I add a small amount of washing crystals to the water which helps remove the grease. I then follow on with Albion soap and then Albion balm.
 
npage123 said:
Wintec Saddle cleaner spray on my Wintec dressage saddle (easy-peasy, although I don't do it as often as I should...)

Jeffries bridle - clean the dirt off first with a hot cloth, then use Jeffries saddle cleaner. Once or twice a year I'll use Carr & Day & Vanner; Vanner & Prest Neatsfoot compound. When I used to have a Jeffries Hawk Event saddle, I used this same procedure.

However...

At the time of buying the Jeffries saddle, the saddler told me it's advisable to always use the same make leather conditioner as the make of saddle, as all leather as treated differently by the different saddle makers, so their own leather conditioner/soap would work best on their own saddle.

Oz, what's your comment on the above (was it just sales talk)?

And could you please PM me your article incl your recipe as I trust your opinion :D
Click to expand...

Have sent you a PM and replied in depth, Oz
 
Google for Old Saddler's Blend, same for Sedgwick but I can tell you to look for it on ebay. I'm afraid most tack shops simply stock what the big wholesalers stock, and most of it isn't great. Effax Lederbalsam was one I used to recommend, on good authority, then someone on here got hold of a full list of ingredients and it contains petroleum distillate solvents which I'm sure you'd ALL agree are not good for leather. The good stuff in these products is simply, and usually only partly, making up for the crap.

And yes, Oz speaks a lot of sense (though we slightly disagree on the odd thing, but not leathercare), worth listening to!
 
npage123 said:
However...

At the time of buying the Jeffries saddle, the saddler told me it's advisable to always use the same make leather conditioner as the make of saddle, as all leather as treated differently by the different saddle makers, so their own leather conditioner/soap would work best on their own saddle.

:D
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That's drivel, saddlers buy leather ready finished from a very small number of tanneries the biggest being Sedgewicks.

I'm a bridle maker and repairer and I get a nice line of income repairing tack that has been ruined by soap and oil so please keep using it :D
 
sbloom said:
Google for Old Saddler's Blend, same for Sedgwick but I can tell you to look for it on ebay. I'm afraid most tack shops simply stock what the big wholesalers stock, and most of it isn't great. Effax Lederbalsam was one I used to recommend, on good authority, then someone on here got hold of a full list of ingredients and it contains petroleum distillate solvents which I'm sure you'd ALL agree are not good for leather. The good stuff in these products is simply, and usually only partly, making up for the crap.

And yes, Oz speaks a lot of sense (though we slightly disagree on the odd thing, but not leathercare), worth listening to!
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She loves me really :)
 
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