Newfman Report post Posted March 5, 2010 (edited) Quick question, I have removed all the conchos, stirrup leathers, latigos cinches, etc., and have inspected everything. Now I am about to give the saddle a good scrubbing and oiling. I was wondering about the shearling. What is recommended for cleaning this? I have a few days of sunshine so, I will be able to get at it all with a hose. the wife is out of town so I can clean all the various straps in the kitchen sink. What do you think about horse shampoo for cleaning it? Are there going to be issues with hosing this saddle down? I wouldn't even think about doing this with my draft horses' production saddle! It has all it can do to just stay in one peice while on the stand. My plan is a little murphys oil soap, a bucket of water, a toothbrush (an old one, not my present one) and a surgical scrub brush (soft, but short bristles). I will let the saddle dry for a day or so in the mud room and then wipe it down with a light coat of olive oil, on the tooled as well as the rough-out leather. Sound like a good plan? Ah yes, my Wife uses a product called 'effax Lederbalsam' on her english saddle. It contains lanolin, avocado oil, and beeswax. Is there a reason i should or should not use this instead. I can also get something at the feed store if that would be better. Edited March 5, 2010 by Newfman Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tosch Report post Posted March 6, 2010 Newfman, "effax Lederbalsam" is a very good stuff - IF you use it on (very) dry leather to get it flexible. Put a VERY light coat of it on the leather and wait for 3 days. You always can repeat it. If you were to use it on a new pair of harness leather reins as described, after 3 days they end up being soft and flexible as a shoe string (no good at all)- at least this is my experience with this stuff. Tosch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Newfman Report post Posted March 6, 2010 (edited) Thanks for taking the time Tosch, Now I just have to decide if that is a good thing...or a bad. I am pretty sure all my questions have been answered, but trying to figure out how to get productive results out of this search engine here is maddening. I did have concerns about the beeswax content of it though. I was wondering if this would affect my ability to re-oil the saddle next time. Or would its affects be lost by the time a saddle is ready for another oiling? Any thoughts? Dennis Edited March 6, 2010 by Newfman Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
