Help! Deep Cleaning Older Saddle Gone Very Wrong - Powerwashing

[CCCustomTack]

I am in dior need of some knowledge....

Last night my husband & I bought a diamond in the rough. It was a pre= 1980 Original Billy Cook MAKER Greenville, TX 15" cutting saddle.

I was BEYOND excited for this find & couldn't wait to clean it up!

So today i went to it with soap & water, a sponge, & a tooth brush to get into the floral tooling... the dirt was really deep in there & still wasn't come out so i talked to my friend who has restored a couple older saddle & she said power wash it.... i was a little hesitant but i took her word for it...

My husband power washed it on LOW in a fan setting on the washer & now in some spots it looks like the finish has literally been taking off... she reassures me this is normal & i don't believe her. I have put several coats of 100% pure neatsfoot oil on it & it is soaking now but i'm terrified i have now ruined this saddle. But also this saddle has been repaired in a few places that i can see & is very old so scuffs may also be from wear & tear but still, i'm freaking out a little.

What are you thoughts? Tips? Suggestions? Kind words to keep me from breaking down into tears...lol

Pictures of before & after included...

Edited May 25, 2015 by CCCustomTack

[Dwight]

Personally, . . I would not worry too much about it.

Remember, . . . the guy who made it, . . . did not make a show piece to go behind glass at the Smithsonian, . . . he made a tool to be used, appreciated, enjoyed, and one day, . . . some day, . . . some time, . . . it will no longer be useable.

From what I can see, . . . it looks beautiful, . . .

I have an old "Jumbo" saddle, . . . probably a lot older than my 70 years, . . . been repaired many times, . . . and I still love it.

You and I both have a privilege of sitting on history when we ride these saddles, . . . embrace it, . . . enjoy it, . . . thank the Lord for it.

May God bless,

Dwight

[electrathon]

First off, I agree with Dwight. If you bought the saddle to help you not fall off your horse, it is still good. Use it with joy.

From what I see, you pealed off the top of the leather, don't do that again.

Edited May 26, 2015 by electrathon

[TinkerTailor]

First off, I agree with Dwight. If you bought the saddle to help you not fall off your house, it is still good. Use it with joy.

From what I see, you pealed off the top of the leather, don't do that again.

You ride your roof on a saddle???

[CCCustomTack]

Electrathon - yea i will NOT be doing that again, ever...

Dwight- this saddle actually does has a great piece of history behind it too. An old cowboys name who ive traced back, is carved into the tree.

This isn't my main saddle & i didn't pay much for it ($150) which was a steal for the saddle, but it does still upset me that we pretty well took off the top layer of leather in some spots. yea it will ride the same but still.

I am hoping there is a way to fix it or at least make it look a little better.

[electrathon]

You ride your roof on a saddle???

Darn auto correct.

[TinkerTailor]

It was such a good mental image though..

[bruce johnson]

It is a Billy Cook. It was a pretty good production saddle at that time but still manufactured to a price point. 35 years later it is still together, that is not too bad. I wore out the better part of two of them in 5 years back then. Yours has the grain slipping in places - could be from sweat and drying, a finish used on it, a conditioner used on it, wet saddle blankets thrown over it, and who knows what leather to start with. The pressure washer just blew off what was already loose and going to come off someday anyway. I'd worry a whole lot more about what's underneath an old saddle than what's on top. As long as the riggings are sound and the tree isn't broken, ride it and enjoy it.

I also would be sparing with more oil for a few days at least. It is pretty easy to see the oil soak right in and think "That leather is dry and needs more!". It is easier to over do it in one day than when you stretch out the time and give the oil a chance to spread and even up some before the next coat. Doubly so on one that is roughout or loose grained like yours.

[carver]

I doubt you did that with the sprayer it looks just everyday wear and stuff being stacked on it as already mentioned I use an air compressor to blow the loose the dirt off then blue foam cleaner and water and a tooth brush to get down into the tooling grooves . the foaming helps lift the dirt . and brush gently for the really stubborn dirt down in the tooling grooves I use a hand held pump srayer and on the tightest setting and squirt the dirt out . then let it dry out completely at room temp this can take several days depending on the humidity, after its completely dry I will put a product like Bic 4 on it restore the fats in the leather don't saturate the leather with oil light coats for restorations . If its a work saddle the power washer works just stay back a little . the water wont hurt the leather as long as you let it dry out and replace the fats in the leather without saturating it.

[Art]

CC,

It is hard to tell the condition of the leather by pictures, but judging from where you started, I wouldn't think that this saddle has had the best of care. Power washing seems a little intense, but what came off was probably destined to come off anyway. The philosophy that if oil is good, more oil is better is just not right when it comes to leather, ESPECIALLY working leather. You oil when it NEEDS oil, and never back to back. I recommend assessing the need for the second coat of oil after a week or two. I use Pecard's or Montana Pitchblend paste. Cops are the worst at over oiling and Cowboy Action Shooters run a close second. I worry less about the cops now since most gear is going to plastic, and you just can't over-oil oil. That saddle is a production saddle circa 1975 or so, and while leather was better back then, it is a production saddle. It has been "rode hard and put away wet" more than just once so check the rigging, all the leather and attachment points. I don't think this is any kind of a collector model or anything like that; and please don't be influenced by prices on eBay, they are just there to separate some folks from their money. That being said, replacement of worn or weak parts is not going to hurt the value too much, and it might keep you from getting dumped on your head. If the saddle received as much care underneath as it got on top, I would check the tree and rigging thoroughly.

Art

[oltoot]

What's done is done. Bruce Johnson's advice was well said, as usual. Next time, if there is one, I'd crank the PW down a notch or swap it for just a high pressure hosing after first using something like Murphy's Oil Soap to start loosening up the grime and be sure you have the surface moist when you hit it with HP. Dry increases the abrasion factor of the grime being washed away. Those worn spots you posted look to me like the places somebody would reach for a death grip to keep from exiting head first.

[CCCustomTack]

Thank you everyone for all the advice. Lesson learned on this one.

The back story of this saddle is we went & bought some horses & they had a few saddles for sale to & we bought this one, it had been sitting in the tack room untouched for 15 years. Come to find out when cleaning it on the under side of the saddle carved into the tree is "SHOTGUN" "C.L GIBBS" , come to find out that is the great granddad of a friend of mine & he rode/trained cow horses. pretty neat.

I have checked over all the riggings & everything is solid & sound, the saddle damage was purely cosmetic from being rode hard i'm sure & sitting for so long.

I went over some rougher spots last night with Black rock & those spots are now laid down nice & slicked over & look like the rest of the saddle.

Lesson learned with the oil, I guess more is not always better when it's super dry leather.

I will keep everyone updated on the progress. thank you! trying to figure out how to attach some pictures of it now from this morning after sitting over night

[CCCustomTack]

Oh I also don't plan on reselling the saddle. I will be keeping it as a back up & an extra to have around & if I do ever sell it his great grand daughter said she would buy it whenever I did go to sell it. =)

[CCCustomTack]

so now that I saturated in oil, bad, do I just let it dry out or have a made matters worse? it was really really dried out hence why I used so much oil. now what?

[bruce johnson]

Oil really doesn't dry all that fast. Sometimes you can wick it out some or try to remove excess with something like Dawn. If you go the wicking route - cornmeal, clay cat litter, garage floor oilsorb have all been used. liberal dusting, leave it sit a few days, brush off and reapply as needed.

[oltoot]

One more little thing. If you take it apart as much as you can before doing whatever you are going to do and don't reassemble until you are satisfied, things will usually work better.

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I'm going to disagree with some other comments in that a power washer can and will take the grain off good leather, in fact, new leather. If you get close enough with enough pressure, you can create roughout from smooth grain leather. I know this from experience:-) The best cleaner I've ever used, and this is a recent discovery for me, is Dick Sherer's recipe. For years I thought it just sounded like a bad idea because of the amount of ammonia, but it doesn't leave the leather with a rough, harsh feel like Dawn dish soap, what is what I'd resorted to in the past when all else would fail on something REALLY nasty. It beats Lexol Cleaner hands down, which has been my cleanser of choice for many years. Go to Dick's website and it's listed there somewhere. I also find, with what comes through my shop, that most people around here definitely don't over-oil their stuff. If they oil at all, they put one little application on with a rag and think they oiled it. For oil to do what it's intended to so, which is lubricate the fibers and repel moisture, equine equipment that has been left dry for a long time needs several liberal applications. You don't want the leather left with an oily feel on the surface when you're done, and you definitely don't want to soak the leather for hours or overnight like some folks do, but at least in my experience, most people under-apply rather than over-apply. The quality of the leather makes a huge difference also. Inferior leathers will bleed oil back out and have a slick oily surface when finished, whereas better leathers will absorb what they need with liberal but reasonable application and when finished, will not have that oily residue on the surface. I will often repeat the cleaning process AFTER oiling to get rid of the surface residue. Heavy using tack that is dipped once a year will long outlast tack that is never or only occasionally lightly wiped with an oily cloth or a worthless "conditioner". At least that's what I've seen over the last 30 years. I guess I should mention also that all oils are not created equal. Do not ever use the $8 a gallon crap that smells like diesel fuel. Use a reputable brand of pure neatsfoot, or, what I use almost exclusively for equine equipment is Sheps harness oil. Weaver sells it, and it is a high percentage of neatsfoot with something added to repel rats and mice. It smells a little like fish oil, but is not unpleasant. It's not cheap but it's good stuff. I have yet to use Black Rock conditioner, but from what I've seen, I do think it is a superior product and I plan to get some. I'm a sucker for trying new conditioners, because I have yet to find one that does everything it promises to do and lives up to what I think a conditioner should do. Good luck to you with your saddle!

Edited May 28, 2015 by Big Sioux Saddlery

[CCCustomTack]

Updated!! I will get a better pic today but the saddle is soaking up the oil really well & starting to return to its natural medium oil shade!! It is not sticky or oily feeling at all, I guess it was just that dry! The rough spots from the pressure washer I applied some black rock to & massaged it in & it is smoothed & slicked down & looks normal now!

As much of a panic & anxiety this whole episode has caused me lol all is well & turning out good!

Thank you everyone!