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I was recently at a horse event(team penning, roping, cutting) and there was an older gentleman doing saddle cleaning and restoration. He was cleaning roping and cutting saddles that were well used,dirty, grimey,, these were what I would call "Using" saddles, not your pretty show saddles. To make a long story short, he started out by cleaning them with Murphy's Oil soap and the lather that it initially would make on the saddle was a dark brown (dirt and grime), he would rinse the part with a clean sponge and water and do it again, and repeat the process 3 or 4 times. After a good cleaning, he went over the saddle with a Montana Pitch Blend leather treatment. The ending result was amazing to say the least, and he only charged $50 to do it. He would take about 2 hours to do one saddle, he was very thorough.

My question is, it seemd to me like the Murphy's oil soap might be a little harsh to use? Are their any professional opinions on using this soap? I have used Murphy's on antiques (wood) with great success. Any comments will help me out a lot,,thanks ron.. :coffeecomp:

Edited by 3arrows

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I have used Murphy's on leather for years, it is not as harsh as you suspect but is really effective in getting the grime off. As long as you are using something to replace anything that might be dried out by the soap then anything that does not "attack" the leather, abrade it, or leave something unacceptable behind will work. Montana Pitchblend, Pecard's, Aussie, Dr. Jackson's Hide Rejuvenator, or Leather Therapy Restorer are good products for application after cleaning and no more than once a year in even pretty tough conditions, they all can be overdone easily. I use Pecard's as the second step in a process that is very much like you have witnessed.

For lighter cleaning, Leather Amoré is a good product as are many others.

Art

I was recently at a horse event(team penning, roping, cutting) and there was an older gentleman doing saddle cleaning and restoration. He was cleaning roping and cutting saddles that were well used,dirty, grimey,, these were what I would call "Using" saddles, not your pretty show saddles. To make a long story short, he started out by cleaning them with Murphy's Oil soap and the lather that it initially would make on the saddle was a dark brown (dirt and grime), he would rinse the part with a clean sponge and water and do it again, and repeat the process 3 or 4 times. After a good cleaning, he went over the saddle with a Montana Pitch Blend leather treatment. The ending result was amazing to say the least, and he only charged $50 to do it. He would take about 2 hours to do one saddle, he was very thorough.

My question is, it seemd to me like the Murphy's oil soap might be a little harsh to use? Are their any professional opinions on using this soap? I have used Murphy's on antiques (wood) with great success. Any comments will help me out a lot,,thanks ron.. :coffeecomp:

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I have used Murphy's on leather for years, it is not as harsh as you suspect but is really effective in getting the grime off. As long as you are using something to replace anything that might be dried out by the soap then anything that does not "attack" the leather, abrade it, or leave something unacceptable behind will work. Montana Pitchblend, Pecard's, Aussie, Dr. Jackson's Hide Rejuvenator, or Leather Therapy Restorer are good products for application after cleaning and no more than once a year in even pretty tough conditions, they all can be overdone easily. I use Pecard's as the second step in a process that is very much like you have witnessed.

For lighter cleaning, Leather Amoré is a good product as are many others.

Art

Art, thanks for the reply back, I just bought a gallon of it at the local hardware store, so Im going to start using it also. I noticed that you are the Sewing MAchine moderator, is there a seperate section for questions on sewing machines?? Im in the process of looking for a used machine to do repair work on saddles, primary use will be new fleece and restiching seats, etc. Do you have any suggestions? I have found an old shoe making/sewing machine, in an antique store, but the guy wants a fortune for it(1000). It is a McKAy and works great, I tried it on some skirting leather and it sewed it like it was paper. any thoughts..thanks ron

Edited by 3arrows

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Art, thanks for the reply back, I just bought a gallon of it at the local hardware store, so Im going to start using it also. I noticed that you are the Sewing MAchine moderator, is there a seperate section for questions on sewing machines?? Im in the process of looking for a used machine to do repair work on saddles, primary use will be new fleece and restiching seats, etc. Do you have any suggestions? I have found an old shoe making/sewing machine, in an antique store, but the guy wants a fortune for it(1000). It is a McKAy and works great, I tried it on some skirting leather and it sewed it like it was paper. any thoughts..thanks ron

Oops I found the section on sewwing machines,,thanks

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