Organic Fats in a Pinch

[possum88]

Hey y’all! I was wondering what I can use in a pinch from the kitchen to clean and bring leather back to life. A few days back I found that ALL of my leather care products have gone missing when I went to clean and condition an older saddle. I have had this saddle 3 years and I haven’t touched it, before that it sat in a antique shop for God knows how long, and before that I don’t think it was ever cleaned and conditioned. The saddle is super stiff in areas, dirty, and cracking around the tooled areas. All vital parts are in great shape. I’m leasing a horse that I can actually use this saddle on and I do intend to use it. Back to the kitchen.. I got to researching what I can use in a pinch and my search brought me here where I found an old post about using tallow. I don’t have tallow...I have pork fat, duck fat, and spray coconut oil. I opted to use my duck fat. I was quite shocked at the results and how the suppleness returned to parts of the saddle, granted my whole jar of duck fat went into the saddle..it was a tad thirsty.. The duck fat didn’t discolor the saddle either. Can I continue to use duck fat or should I get beef tallow/pork fat? Or should I just buy some kind of leather care product again? (Picture is of saddle after a jar of duck fat)

[LatigoAmigo]

3 hours ago, possum88 said:

Can I continue to use duck fat or should I get beef tallow/pork fat? Or should I just buy some kind of leather care product again?

The saddle looks just great!

My wife is a meticulous cook and our son-in-law is a doctor, and they have many conversations about food turning rancid... and that was my first thought... can the duck fat go bad? Think of it... you're sittin' in that saddle on a hot summer day... is there any chance that a "duck like" smell might come wafting up? It would drive my wife crazy.

Because of that possibility, I would stay away from animal fats and only use proven leather care products.