Saddle restoration

[pella]

Just forget that I ever put this out as a post. If I could figure out how to delete it I would.

I dont understand that one?

Well, i look at your web site, and it is well made and interresting, i am sure some people will very appreciate your information to restore their saddle themself.

Not a fan of ivory or any detergent but well...if really dirty or oily...maybe...i never try that

BUT i think yellow saddle soap after a so harsh washing is not enough to feed leather, i would feed with oil and/or heavy cream ( i use sedgwick leather care) like don explain.

Maybe you could precise it is not always necessary to remove the seat? From part 6 to 7 the seat is gone i was a little lost as it is not really explain.

For part 7, i can say i like to place a string in the hole of the leathers so it is much easier to put stirrup leathers back after. Most of time leathers go over the bars, and not on a metal fitting like on the saddle illustrated on your web site.

[Vaquero]

Since we are on a saddle restoration thread, I am curious what everyone prefers to condition with after the cleaning. To kick it off, personally I keep going back to Williams. I have tried several of the others - Hide Rejuvenater, Feibing's Aussie, Leather N Rich, Saddle Butter, Pecards, and the various animal fats and oils at one time or another. I haven't tried Skidmores yet. I think the others do have their place, but it just seems to me that the Williams just gives me a better feel on these older leathers. Anybody else got a favorite for old reconditioning?

Bruce, I just had a old saddle in my shop for repairs and a cleaning which was in real bad shape. It looked like it had never ever been cleaned or oiled since it was new. This was one of the worst abused dried out saddles I have ever seen. I used Leather Therapy Wash and the Conditioner Restorer. It gave the leather a rich patina and brought it back to life nicely. I was very impressed. The customer didn't recognize the saddle when he came to pick it up.

Phil Green

Wild Horse Saddlery

[CollinsMS]

Thanks Pella the input you gave is what I was looking for. I have made some adjustments to the web site to clarify a few points. My earlier comment was out of frustration. The average Joe saddle owner will never dig deep enough to find the LEATHERWORKER.NET site and the information on it. I am trying to make information more accessible.

[Echo4V]

Just wanted to say, I really like your site and that you have an easily understood way of explaining things. I think that your cleaning and restoration link should be added to the front page of this site like vest making tutorial etc.

David

[Patricia]

Hi everyone. I have not been around for a wile posting or reading posts. I started restoring a 1940's saddle and found that there is little to no information on the net to help with this type of project. So I decided to add a section to my web page with an overview of cleaning, gotchas and putting it back together. I just started building the new section of the site and I am still restoring the saddle so I am taking pictures as I go. Take a look and let me know what you think. Opinions are welcome

The web site is http://www.theleathercraftsman.com then take a look at the menue This Old Saddle.

Thanks

Hello CollinsMS,

I am new to this forum and somewhat new to leather work but I wanted to say that I checked out the section on your web page, and you already have helped me with some of my questions. Thank you for posting it.

[Patricia]

Just wanted to say, I really like your site and that you have an easily understood way of explaining things.

David