Cleaning a saddle and recognizing the condition of the leather

[OldRedMule]

I am trying  to refurbish a saddle while reinforcing the rigging and replacing the fleece. I have takin it apart, washed most of it with lukewarm water, a little dawn and used countless toothpicks to pick and push dirty oil out of the nooks and crannies and toothbrushes and nail brushes in a circular motion to release the rest. I have two areas of concern. Several very black hard slick areas that I am not sure what it is. I don’t think it is mold, we are in Tucson where it is dry and mold not usually an issue. It might be sweat? The owner is a horse trainer and rides about 8 hours a day. Not all in this saddle but this is his favorite so it is busy. It is about 10 years old. I am afraid to go at it too hard because I am afraid the top will come off. Most of these spots are in areas of wear and are also stamped. Are these areas of rot or decay?

Second issue is there are a few areas where even the gentle washing resulted in the top finish coming off and is now raw and rough. Is there something I can do to repair, smooth, to tighten the surface back up? I can tell already that dye will be necessary.

The trainer has been in the habit of periodically wiping down and conditioning the saddle. However, I have dug a lot of junk out of it, so not thoroughly cleaned by any means probably not ever and in a dusty dirty round pen you can just imagine. No judgement however, he is awesome and has a huge following training and homing mustangs. If I ever build one for him I will suggest plain and keep the carved ones for show.

I am just building my first saddle, fairly new at leatherwork and only experienced in taking care of my own saddles and have not delt with this hard black and shrunken/compressed stuff before. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also any information on how to identify certain stages of leather condition. I am at a loss. I understand you can make a piece of leather look pretty good but not be safe. I would like to learn more about these things.

If there is another post already around I couldn’t find it.
 

Thank you.

Edited March 13, 2020 by OldRedMule
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[Northmount]

@OldRedMule Moved your post to Saddle Identification, Restoration & Repair.  You should get more response here.  Have you searched through this area?

Tom

 

[Goldshot Ron]

The photos you posted appear to be at the rigging plate and the rigging appears to be inskirt.  These seams need to be resewn.  This is done after removing the sheepskin (fleece).  A cleaning solution that I use on oily-dirty saddles is made of: water, ammonia, and Ivory dish soap.  I don't remember the measurements; but, mix just a few drops of soap (you don't want alot of suds) and ammonia to the smell test (smell it, but doesn't knock you out).  This will remove the oily dirt and sweat.  Also, a plastic putty knife can be used to scrape off this layer of gunk.  Rinse well.  

Once the top grain is rubbed off, there are no tricks to bring it back.  The photos appear that the saddle is well used, and you can't make it look new.  You didn't list the makers name of the saddle, and that would help for further analysis.

Hope this gives you some different ideas.

[OldRedMule]

Thank you Goldshot Ron. It is a Martin. Made in 08. It is a cross between an in skirt and a pocket style saddle. No lugs tied on or through strings.  I have already got the fleece off and all the threads picked out and will later sew on new fleece. I will try your recipe. Thanks again.

[PurpleSage]

Sure you have long since finished up this saddle but I usually find that really black hard gunk is where some type of hardware rubs on leather.    Think rivots or stirrup bolts, etc.    I typically use a little plastic scraper to scrap it off back down to leather and then scrub with brush.    Often use Murphy’s oil and then saddle soap for the cleaning stages.    Might try the ammonia mixture though on the next really greasy dirty one I get!

[OldRedMule]

Yes, PurpleSage, I got it done and I have since started on another one. Darn cowboys, this one I find the hardest blackest stuff over the hardware. The rigging on an inskirt rigging where the leg would have rode over it. I did what you said and used a scraper to as delicately as possible scrap the waxy dirt off he top of it. After softening in with cleaner. This time I actually used Lexol and it worked pretty good. I used warm water and a pinch of dawn on the rest of it. The Lexol, a tiny bit sprayed on a wet sponge, dampening the nasty gunk over the hardware several times while I worked on the rest of it. Then went back and scraped off the gunk. I used a silicone scraper. A tiny bit of damage was done to the leather but I think the dirt did more than I did. Then I rubbed in a couple thin of coats of Ray Holes cream. Turned out pretty nice. Thank you for your feed back.

[Goldshot Ron]

Just saw your post again.  The scraping is necessary, and it sounds like you have it figured out.  I never thought of Dawn, it does work well on greasy dishes.  Old school leatherworkers used Ivory because it wasn't as harsh as other soaps of it's time.  To be honest, the important thing to do after cleaning with any product, it to put the oils back into the leather after cleaning.  I've tried a lot of different oils and conditioners; and, I always go back to neatsfoot oil.  But, use whatever you feel comfortable in using, and what works for you.

So, how is the saddle you said you were building coming out?

[EdOdgers]

Given the extent of wear shown in the photo, a 'wear leather' over the rigging may be the only way to prolong the life of this saddle for very long.  As Ron said, the area needs to be restitched but there's no way to cut (recess in a groove) those stitches in deeply enough to prevent them from being worn away very quickly.  The wear leather may be the only practical way to protect the stitching and thus the rigging integrity.  The sketch below shows how the wear leather might be done.  It need not be too thick as it is easily replaceable.

This issue provides a good lesson in saddle construction.  In the area shown, the stitch groove should have been much, much deeper.  Most production saddles are notorious for this problem and thus cannot endure hard use.  For durability, I typically take three passes with my stitch groover in these areas of high wear.  Of course, the leather needs to be thicker in the rig to accommodate that deeper groove.    A saddle's design and quality of construction help determine it's life span.

[OldRedMule]

I love that, thank you. The one I posted is back in use so of course it did not get done. But I will let the customer know we could do that. I will keep it in mind, thanks again!