I've been cleaning up the tack and saddles the last couple of days in preporation of helping a friend round up his free range cattle. After starting on this long long long overdue process I've come across tack that hasn't been touched in years, ie. super stiff, dry, almost mumified leather. So far I've been using saddle soap and Neatsfoot oil with good results, just very very time consuming. Anyone have any secret shortcuts, I've thought of a bucket of oil and just submerging tack in it, not sure if that would work or not. What do you use on your leather projects?
I always used Maguires leather conditioner on my car seats. That stuff brings sexy back. Dunno about a saddle.
Prep your Leather by removing any exterior dirt or dust with a damp rag. Wipe dry immediately after with a clean rag. Mix one part white vinegar to two parts linseed oil, as recommended by Overstock.com. A mixture of 1/4 cup white vinegar and 1/2 cup linseed oil should be enough for most leather holsters and belts.... Tack might need more Dampen your rag with the formula and gently massage into the leather, using small circles. Repeat until you've conditioned the entire bag Wait 15 minutes for the conditioner to penetrate and then work in small circles to buff off any excess with a clean rag. an alternate is baseball glove conditioner....
Been using used oil on older stuff for years. Now if it is too far gone, no hope. Cut it up and use it for repair work. The down side is that no matter the color of the tack, it will end up black or extremely dark brown. Did my grandfathers old Mule harness with oil. Came out good, but took ALOT of elbow grease. Gafarmboy Forgot to add, that oil has lots of unhealthy stuff in it and use it at your own risk, blah, blah, blah, lawyer shite, more lawyer shite, etc, etc, etc.
Vinegor and linseed huh I give it a try on something. I use old hydraulic oil and linseed mix to stain wood works pretty good. My hands are peeling and elbows creakin from all the scrubbing, on the upside everything will be good for a year or two. Note to self take care of things before they get out of hand.
For those interested, there's a product called Cellugel that book preservationists use to restore old leather book covers. If your leather has a reddish powder flaking off, it's the best product to use, although the chances are that leather that dry might not have a lot of strength left. Cellugel is available from a company called Preservation Solutions.
