VERY DRY SADDLE

[chevygirl]

I saw a great project saddle today, that I'd like to buy....but I have a question about it's leather before I make an offer.

The saddle is in good shape but the leather is quite dry. It's not "brittle to the point of breaking" dry, but it has light surface cracks. Appears to have been sitting up for a while, collecting dust. The majority of the old saddles that I have worked on were just the opposite(over-oiled), so I'm not really sure what to do here..

What is a good method of getting some "moisture" back into an old saddle without hurting it. I'm pretty new to this stuff, so any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Qtswede]

I saw a great project saddle today, that I'd like to buy....but I have a question about it's leather before I make an offer.

The saddle is in good shape but the leather is quite dry. It's not "brittle to the point of breaking" dry, but it has light surface cracks. Appears to have been sitting up for a while, collecting dust. The majority of the old saddles that I have worked on were just the opposite(over-oiled), so I'm not really sure what to do here..

What is a good method of getting some "moisture" back into an old saddle without hurting it. I'm pretty new to this stuff, so any input would be greatly appreciated.

clean it with saddle soap, then oil the tar out of it with neatsfoot oil. That's what I use, anyhow. soaks it up like a sponge, though you may need to use something else if you're going to tool it - I'm a noob, so I can help with general care, not up to the fancy stuff yet though

[rustyriggin]

I would suggest a GOOD cleaning with some Leather New, and then several light coats with 100% neatsfoot oil over many days until it gets where you want it. Just my .02. Rus

[bruce johnson]

I'd step back. If it has been sitting around and has surface cracks, they won't heal. It is just as dry on the inside as it is where you can see it. I my experience those are the ones to seriously watch. The woolskin is taggy, leathers just rip without stretching thin first, a rivet just pops through, or something else and the wreck is on. Take a good hard look at the fenders/stirrup leathers (especially up over the bars) and riggings at the least. If you are looking at used saddles and have to go replacing leather, factor that in.

[chevygirl]

I'd step back. If it has been sitting around and has surface cracks, they won't heal. It is just as dry on the inside as it is where you can see it. I my experience those are the ones to seriously watch. The woolskin is taggy, leathers just rip without stretching thin first, a rivet just pops through, or something else and the wreck is on. Take a good hard look at the fenders/stirrup leathers (especially up over the bars) and riggings at the least. If you are looking at used saddles and have to go replacing leather, factor that in.

Thanks Bruce. I took your advice..... something better will come along. It was a nice little saddle, but probably more than I wanted to mess with. It looked ok at first, but upon further inspection....not so ok.

[Harfindel]

Well, I can be accused of being a newbie at this, but here goes ...

There is a lot of information out there about restoring and preserving leather, that is written by book preservationists. I work at a school that has a preservationist, and I have been talking with her and others about this, with the idea of finding things that are useful for restoring saddles. (The librarians think the idea of preserving saddles is cute, and that thinking about it is a nice break from library work.)

Here is a good article on how the upper-end preservationists would approach a rare book:

http://www.kb.nl/cons/leather/chapter5-en.html

As you can see, they have given the subject a lot of thought.

Basically, for saddle leather, I think good steps are:

1. clean

2. restore the leather's ability to hold water

3. restore the leather's oil content

4. finish and waterproof the leather's top, exposed surface

For cleaning, I have had luck in carefully removing the piece in question (so as not to crack it further), then soaking it in water until it is pliable, and washing it with a mild saddle soap, applied by a very soft brush. I do this in repeated rinsings until the dirt and soil is as gone as I can get it.

To restore the leather's abiility to retain water, I was told by a chemist (who was also a horse person) to apply vegetable glycerin. It is water-based and sinks into the leather rapidly, then dries out slowly over a few days. (Note that the librarians don't do this. o_O ).

As for restoring the oil, I have been using liquid lanolin, thinned with just enough neetsfoot oil to make it sink into the leather. This mixture will disperse into the deeper parts of the leather in a day or two, in my experience, eventually returning the surface to a light color.

Then, to finish, I coat with a thinned beeswax product, like Blackrock or Fiebing's Aussie conditioner. Let it sit for a day or two (best in sun to get some heat on it) and then wipe off the wax that remains. I only finish one side, so the leather can breathe out the back.

Then you reassemble, and ride off into the sunset, or something like that.

I agree that you have to be careful about not spending time on leather that is badly cracked, as the cracks will stay. But even then, if the leather is fully restored, the layer that used to be hard and inflexible (where the cracks are) will return to being soft and pliable, so even light to moderate cracking might not be objectionable, if the saddle is something you really want.

Anyway, that has been my experience, so far. I would be interested in hearing anyone's reactions to it.

No idea at all where dyeing might come into this.