'46 Otto Ernst saddle

['46 Otto Ernst saddle]

Personally I would not put any kerosene on the leather , being that you would not be able to remove it and the odor. The saddle is 63 years old and there are many things that can change and discolor leather. Sunshine, sweat , salts , dirt, blood, grease and any saddle dresssings the previous owns may have used on it. I would clean it with feibings glyceren bar and warm water and soft brush. The top fender the lighter of the too is darker at the top where the where the stirrup leather is covered by the seat jockey.Obviously the stirrup fender on the bottom has been replaced. I would conditon it and accept it for what it is. Maybe some other will have ideas for you.

Steve

Steve, I agree about the smell of the kerosene. The top fender is darker at the top because I haven't cleaned that portion yet. It started out looking like the bottom one. I've tried the feibings and it is as though there is something they put on the leather which is preventing the cleaner(s) from reaching the deep down grunge. The bottom fender has not been replaced completely. Only the leather strap, which contains no tooling. My concern is that the saddle will be multiple colors if I don't do anything other than condition it.

[uknown saddle maker from Roscoe, IL]

Here's the second saddle purchased from my neighbor. I know it's more than 25 years old. The back plate says "Circle D Saddle Shop Roscoe, IL." I've attached a photo to help in the identification. Hope someone can help.

['46 Otto Ernst saddle]

Hello everyone. I'm hoping someone can help me with a saddle I recently acquired. I've been working on restoring a '46 Otto Ernst and I'm having a problem getting the leather color to match. I've cleaned everything with Ivory soap and everything except one skirt and one fender looks great. The saddle was very dark, almost black in places and the previous owner had told me that the man they bought it from had "put some kind of coating on it." It doesn't seem to be any sort of lacquer and some color has come up, but it is still very dark compared to all the other pieces. Any ideas on how to completely remove the color? I know I read one post that suggested cleaning it with Kerosene, but that's a little scary without some verification from others that this method works. The saddle is in really good condition otherwise and I only need to replace one piece of leather for the rigging. I've attached a few photos, so comment if you'd like. You can clearly see the color difference in the fenders.