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 Night Chat Leader
Posts: 13150
    
Location: Home....Smiling M Farms | So I was cleaning my saddle the other day and ran out of my normal cleaner, I went to the tack shop and all they had was saddle soap that was like a bar of soap you'd have in the shower. I thought hey I can handle this...wrong. My saddle now has this nasty gritty stuff all over it.bive scrubbed and scrubbed and wiped and wiped and I can't get this junk off! Any help would be greatly appreciated, because this is just nasty. |
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 Total Germophobe
Posts: 6437
Location: Montana | Umm, lather it up with a rag or sponge (no new saddle soap, just just whats on it already), and water, and then when it is lathered up, wipe it off with a clean rag. Don't let it dry before you wipe it off. I don't use saddle soap as much as I used to because it can be hard to get off, especially if it is older leather. However it does supple old leather up great! |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| This ^^^ Good luck - a little elbow grease and you'll have it off in no time!  |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Saddle soap isn't made for cleaning. It's a glycerin compound meant to help water proof leather. Glycerin itself is used in soap making. You should be able to get a big towel, soak in warm water and a little Dawn dish soap, and scrub it up clean.
Then do an oil based moisturizer (I prefer Neatsfoot), then a thin layer of saddle soap. Then let dry and buff to a shine. :) |
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Night Chat Leader
Posts: 13150
Location: Home....Smiling M Farms | Thanks guys! I'll give it a try! |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | Clean yet?!! |
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| STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW ... YOU ARE SCRUBBING THE PROTECTIVE LAYER THE SADDLEMAKER PUT ON THIS SADDLE ..
Saddle soap was made for English saddles made with pig skin o seal up the pores due to heavy humidity in those countries. NEVER USE THIS SLOP ON COW LEATHER!!
AND YOU NEVER SCRUB ON TOOLED LEATHER ... if you have dirt in the tooling you use a toothpick or soft toothbrush gently and blot the loosened dirt out with a soft damp towel.
The prime use of neatsfoot oil is for leather items that get sweated on ... breast collar, reins and back girth. It was invented to oil down harness' for working farm horses or buggy horse harness' ... to protect the leather from salty sweat. If you do your saddle it will gather dust and smear the pants you are wearing for ages ... It will soften up old dried up leather items but the strength of the leather is already ruined due to turning hard and dry and destroying the fibers in the leather .... so don't trust old leather that has been softened with neatsfoot oil ... this also darkens your saddle leather in blotches ..
Depending on the damage your scrubbing with saddle soap has done it may never get the shine back and look dull used and lifeless ...
My best advice is LEXOL .. conditioner ... have a horse hair horse brush and a bunch of old cotton tshirts, toothpicks to clean dirt in the tooling , and soft toothbrush for the tight areas. NO HEAVY SCRUBBING just light dobbing and gentle brushing ... t shirts are for buffing and use the horse hair brush when leather is sopping wet with Lexol and to buff the tooling when dry ...
1st go ....Slop the Lexol on front and back of every leather part you can reach including pulling out your fender straps half one way and half the other way without pulling it out from under your saddle .... then you would have to ride one legged .. lol
2nd go round .. loosen any dirt you see with toothpicks or toothbrush and horse hair brush .. slop more lexol on the tooling ... and use a dry t shirt to dob off the excess Lexol over entire saddle picking up the dirt that is now in the Lexol and concentrate where you found the worst dirt .. you can slop and clean these areas several times ..
Slop more Lexol
3rd .. repeat 1st go and let the saddle soak over night or less than 24 hours ...
4th .. slop Lexol on tooling side of leather buff lightly with horse hair brush and then with the t shirt ... picking up dirt or your final dressing particles you may have destroyed .... your saddle is not going to be shiny if this did happen ... but will have a deeper patina and the lexol will replace the natural oil leather needs to keep the fibers pliable and strong.
5th ... repeat #4 as often as you can per month to get the best shine possible back to your saddle ...
If you take it to a saddle shop and they use olive oil as a sealant ... keep in mind mice and rats love that stuff and will eat your saddle .. lol
Do the back side of rough out leather and not the rough out seat ... neatsfoot oil for anything that gets sweated on including headstalls ...
If you have exoctic seat leather ... look at shoe store for that type of exoctic skin care products ....
Rawhide is untanned leather ... use only products for rawhide .. may have to google to find it ... any other leather conditioners will soften the rawhide and loosen any platting and will make the rawhide on cantles age and gather dirt you cannot remove ..
Do not use anything that has anytype of petrol distillents in it .. or silicone which you will find to improve their profits ...
After the Lexol treatments buy you some lanolin which all leather products used for years and really works well to maintain the surface of tooled leather ... use lightly and buff with a t shirt ... in between lexol treatments in the future ...
this is what I use ... no soaking ... I use a small doubled up square of t shirt to apply it with ..
THIS HAS THE LONGEST LINK YOU WILL EVER SEE ... GOOD EXPLANATION ON USE OF PURE LANOLIN ... and price ... buy the $20 bottle .... LOL
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PREMIUM-ORGANIC-LANOLIN-OIL-USP-GRADE-HAIR-...
Ok sermon is over ...
Edited by BARRELHORSE USA 2016-08-30 2:51 AM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 878
Location: "...way down south in the Everglades..." | This is pretty much spot on. Yeah unfortunately, OP, the saddle soap bars were originally designed for english saddles..in the 1800's. However, just a fair warning to anyone with an english saddle...most of the english saddles ARE made out of calf leather (for the flaps especially) although you will find many with pig skin seats. Regardless, saddle soap can be a nightmare and can cause stains, streaks, etc. I would stick with the Lexol or a similar product with the english ones too. |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | This is why I'm taking my saddle to a local tack shop to get cleaned and oiled--too many steps and I'd surely get it all wrong. Good luck to you!!! |
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