Proper Care For A Rough Out Saddle - 2 Part Question.

[CourtneyLynn]

Hello and good morning. I recently purchased a new saddle with roughout seat, jockeys and fenders. Since the roughout is new, it is lighter in color. The rest of the saddle is slightly lighter than a medium oil – it’ll need some oil and hours in the sun to hit the medium oil shade I like.

Question 1 – Is there a good (ie – safe and recommended) way to oil the rough out? I’ve heard to oil it from the underside, but I don’t want to make the roughout splotchy if I can avoid it. How do you all care for your roughout saddles?

Question 2 – Is there a way to darken the roughout if oiling isn’t a good option? I know the roughout will darken with use and as it picks up staining from my jeans, but is there a safe way to expedite this process?

I don’t want to ruin my first brand new saddle, and I’ve heard so many conflicting words of advise about rough out. Help!

[oltoot]

Your questions are a little bit confusing to me, objective? dark or light. If you are going to use it and are just interested in taking care of it then your answer is nothing special, remembering to use multiple light coats as opposed to one heavy and the backside approach is helpful, too. Be sure to keep the roughout parts clean and light brushing with a stiff fiber or even a very soft copper brush while it is still just a little damp can make the knap last longer but only a little longer as it will disappear with use. Used roughout eventually gets slicker than smooth so just wait and count the miles.

[CourtneyLynn]

I'm sorry for the delay in response and the confusion.

The roughout on my saddle is very light (I think it's called Natural). Ideally, I'd like for it to darken up a bit, be it through oiling or use. Oltoot, your response was bang on - I wanted to know if oiling from the backside was possible and helpful. A google search confirmed that light coats of oil on the backside of the leather would darken the roughout up a little, which is what I'm after.

Thank you!