Hharmony

http://www.preservat...sloansaddle.php Sorry, I was refering to these products. Preservation Solutions. The link didn't show. Perhaps these products are best left to professionals? I do not think this saddle could, or should be made to look look like new. I appreciate the patina. It has decorative rawhide buckstitching around all the the skirts edges and fenders. This is the only place it still shows. It does not seem to be cleaning up enough to be visible on the rest of the saddle. I have never had any success getting rawhide tack to lighten up again once stained, so I was wondering if once the saddle is as good of a condition as I am capable of getting it, if replacing the rawhide stitching would be a reasonable undertaking. I have always had well maintained tack, have never had to go beyond routine cleaning and conditioning, and have never dealt with a saddle that is this far gone. I have saddle soaped it again, it still looks dirty, but soaping it doesn't seem to be having much effect. The grime is deep in the leather, it still has a black/grey look in places. Thanks again for your advice, I appreciate it.

Have you any experience with these products? Does the leather detergent sound like an option? I've saddle soaped the saddle another time. I will keep doing that a few more times, and post pics. It does not look as if the buckstitching is going to lighten up again enough to show. How big a job would it be to replace?

Thanks for your reply. Here are pics after 2 coats of the Lexol non-darkening neatsfoot oil. I didn't get any before pics. It was very light on the raised parts before I oiled it. The oil has made it dark again and as you can see it is grayish. I intend to apply more oil,it is not quite as supple as it should be. Is there a better conditioner I should be using? I used a tack sponge to clean it, and a horse brush. The brush was appearantly a bad idea, could see color on the sponge when I wiped it down. This one shows the original finish, under the skirts. I would be very happy if I could get the whole thing to look like the pommel still does.

I pulled my deceased father's saddle out of the back of the tackroom and was attempting to clean it up. It has heavy, full, hand-tooling. It was an expensive, custom made saddle when my mother bought it used for him in the late '60s, and it has a lot of sentimental value. My father wasn't much for cleaning tack, but he did slap oil on it from time to time. So the leather is in decent shape but the saddle was almost black with age and grime. I remember it being a pretty chestnut color when I was a child. I scrubbed it with Lexol PH leather cleaner, and must have been over-enthusiastic because the next day the leather was raw and uncolored. I have applied Lexol conditioner 4 times and it just sucks it right up and dries raw looking again. I have just applied 2 coats of Lexol non-darkening neatsfoot oil this morning, and don't know how that has dried yet, it looked pretty good before it soaked in fully. How much conditioning will stripped out leather need? What can I do to bring back some color and just preserve and condition the leather? Do I need to seal it after it has been adequately conditioned? Will saddle soap seal it and shine up? I would like to send this saddle out to be completely restored in the future, but in the meantime would like to do what I can for it myself. Thanks for any advice you can offer.