Prestige English Saddle Cleaning

[Pounder]

I have a customer who brought a brand new Prestige English saddle that has been ridden twice and me to clean and oil it. I have worked leasther for over 30 years and this is the first time I have been asked to clean and oil a brand new english saddle. What do you recommen I used? I am all about natural ways to clean and oill s saddle, I am not afraid of a good hand rubbing on a saddle. I know everybody has got their own little thing they do tho make these things shine, and that is what I am looking for , something to please a well connected lady with the local horse ranches.

I appreciate all of your responses before hand and look forward to learing from yoiu.

Jolhn

[tnawrot2]

Prestige saddles are expensive, if is a dark color or a light color, some of the oil/conditioners we use darken the leather which might upset the owner. People that own English saddles have a lot of different cleaners and conditioners form England and Germany. I did a Google search on "how to clean a Prestige saddle" and an array of sites came up. This one mentioned the cleaner and conditioner to maintain the saddles.

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-311528.html

[Pounder]

Thanks tnawort2, I willl definately be researching the web as I move on with this project. This si what I am seeking though, recommendations for waxes and conditioners.

[Saddlebag]

I'm surprisef a new high end saddle should need anything done to it other than cleaning the backside of sweated flaps. It used to be that the leather panels were to touch the horse's back without a cloth and the sweat would help mold the fit to the horse.

[Pounder]

Saddlebag:

I was suprised as well as it did not appear the saddle was that bad of condition but after a light wash, the water was dirty. A light coat of conditioner and hours of elbow grease resulted in one very satisified customer, who has returned with other saddles for cleaning and repair. Guess the first one was a test.

[Matt S]

It's surprising and a little unnerving the filth that gets into a saddle after just a little use. I use an old sweatflap as a knee apron for rolling threads a such. You do not want to know how much cleaning that took to get it to an acceptable level.

[Pounder]

I can imagine but still you7 just never know till you get into it. One of the saddles the customer returned with was a Circle Y, fully tooled that had a green mold all over it. Hot water, a tooth brush followed by lemon juice and a tooth brush got rid of the mold. Then came the cleaning part and I swear I wore out to elbows applying the perferable grease.

[Saddlebag]

Clean enough saddles and there are all sorts of customer pleasing tricks to be learned. Having cleaned I don't know how many, lost count after a hundred, I have learned a few and get repeat customers or customer referrals.

[Pounder]

Well I haven't done that many but I sure hope so some day. Word of mouth is slow to get around. What are some of your tips, if you don't mind sharing. I am always looking for ways to produce a better product for the customer and lessen my ovewrhead/expenses. Thanks in advance for sharing.

[Saddlebag]

I microwave my Febings paste soap until it melts and add water, about 50:50 and put it in a plastic dish with a cover. I get double the mileage or better. Murphys, about 1oz to 10 oz water is mixed in a spray bottle which is used liberally to dampen and set up the leather. This helps bring the dirt to the surface and less saddle soap is needed. It also greatly cuts down on time spent cleaning. Add new screws and washer and it changes the appearance in a positive way. A soft flannelette cloth will buff up a beautiful shine on the forks and cantle. No wax is needed. I rub like the shoe shine boys do. My overall cost might be $3 per saddle for western.

[Pounder]

Thanks Saddlebag, I will definately make note of these suggestions, cannot wait to try them out.