Are You Over-Cleaning Your Leather?
We are often told that cleanliness is a virtue. In the barn, this translates to the ritualistic scrubbing of tack. If you grew up in Pony Club, you have it ingrained in you that you must clean your tack thoroughly after every ride. We polish our bits until they shine, and we wipe down our saddles and boots with a zeal that speaks to our dedication. We seek that squeaky-clean finish, the immediate satisfaction of dirt disappearing.
Leather is not synthetic. It is a skin. It once lived, it breathed, and it possesses a complex structure of fibers and natural fats. When we treat it with the same harshness we might use on plastic, we disrupt this delicate balance.
The Alcohol Antagonist: The Truth About Fast-Drying Cleaners
It’s seductive, isn't it? The spray that cuts through the grime and evaporates in seconds. Many popular commercial cleaners (Effax, and your many solvent-based cousins like Horsemen’s One Step) rely heavily on alcohol and other aggressive solvents.
Yes, they clean effectively. They strip the sweat, the dirt, and the accumulated grease. But they don't stop there. They also strip away the essential sebum—the natural lubrication—that keeps the leather fibers strong, supple, and bound together.
Imagine washing your hands with pure rubbing alcohol ten times a day. Your skin would become dry, cracked, and eventually, it would bleed. Leather reacts no differently. It doesn't bleed; it merely dry-rots, cracks, and ultimately, it fails.
The Oil Avalanche: When Heavy Oils Suffocate Calfskin
The antidote to drying, we are told, is oiling. We saturate our dried-out leather, watching it drink up the Neatsfoot or the heavy balms, satisfied as it turns dark and "revived."
But here, we hit the opposite peril, especially with delicate materials like calf leather (common in saddle seats, knee rolls, and finer goods). Calfskin is prized for its soft, tight grain, but it is less porous than its tougher, bovine counterpart. When you saturate calf leather with heavy oils, you don't hydrate it; you drown it.
The excess oil pools in the fine fibers, separating them. The leather loses its structural integrity, becoming spongy and "mushy." This is an irreversible state. Over-oiled calf leather will stretch excessively and lose its shape, and eventually, the fibers themselves begin to break down, turning the once-supple skin into a structural hazard. You can also easily over-oil a regular cow leather – I have seen saddles that someone has tried to “bring back” into use that literally leak oil out. If you need to apply a conditioner, generally stick to lighter balms.
Sidenote: some brands of bridles are intended to be “dunked” in neatsfoot upon purchasing. Brands will normally help inform you about care.
One of the reasons that this has become so “complicated” over time, is that the leather choices have gotten more varied. Saddles all used to be thicker cow hide of a certain type of tanning process. Each leather tannery treats the leather a bit differently, so sometimes the information can feel contradictory.
Tips to maintain longevity of your leather goods:
Leather care should not be a battle; it should be a conservation.
- Stop Over-Cleaning: If your tack isn't caked in mud, a damp or dry microfiber towel might be all it needs after a ride.
- For your boots that have sweat on them, I recommend taking a damp town to wipe it down before it dries. I honestly do this while I am rinsing off my horse just after untacking.
- Treat your girth the same as your boots. Quick wipe down with a damp cloth.
- Bridles & bits can even be dunked quickly in the water trough! Not soaked, just a quick dip and then a wipe down with a clean rag. This again, keeps the sweat from setting up and then having to resort to a heavier cleaner.
- Choose Solvents Wisely: Reserve the heavy alcohol-based cleaners for rare, extreme deep-cleans only. For weekly maintenance, use a pure, neutral-pH soap. I love Effax products and recommend having them in your cleaning kit – but use them sparingly. I often use them when making handbags because I am getting saddles with 50 years of use and heavy wear. It is OK to use occasionally, just not daily.
- Oil to Nourish, Not to Soak: Apply light balms and let the leather tell you when it's full. Do not use them so often – once a month is often enough!
- If you live in an arid environment this will be different. Pay attention to your leather and add oil when needed.
- Check with your saddle/boot/bridle maker! They normally have excellent information on their websites or via email about what products they recommend for their specific leathers. Of course, they all sell their own products ($$$), but it is easy enough to read the recommendation and the ingredient list to find something similar. Here is an example from the maker of my saddles: https://www.bliss-of-london.com/leathercare/ . Notice that it is broken down into each leather type.
- Leather cleaning companies want to sell more products. Don’t forget that it is not in the interest of the leather cleaner company to have you use less of the product. Read the instructions, but prioritize what your leather maker recommends.
- Prevention is Key. If you have a slightly spicy horse, you might be drawn to SUPER sticky full seat breeches (*ahem* Sync Equestrian). If you also have a calfskin seat on your saddle (super soft), you will destroy it. Leather naturally stretches, and the softer and thinner the leather, the more it will stretch. If you put a synthetic sticky item on a soft stretchy leather every day, you will pull the leather apart from the stitching. This, combined with over oiling, is why you see so many French jump saddles with large wrinkles.
My Loxley by Bliss saddle. This has calf leather in the seat, knee roll, and stirrup leather, regular cowhide skirt and flap, and patent piping. All require different care.
Some products I recommend:
“Regular” cowhide: generally a damp cloth, with the occasionally cleaning (only if very dirty) with a neutral PH cleanser. Many glycerin saddle soaps are highly alkaline, which are not great for modern leather (tanned differently than it was 50+ years ago). I generally recommend checking with your saddle/boot/bridle maker regarding what cleaner they recommend, but if you don't know or can't do that, just look for something that says it is a "neutral PH" cleaner designed for saddles. Occasionally apply a balsam or cream (shown below). To break in a new saddle, you can apply balsalm to the underside (grain side) of the leather flaps.
Calf Nappa (or goat/lamb): The tanning process includes lots of oils already, so do not oil it generally. A very light cream or balsalm are recommended if needed, otherwise a dry cloth or at most a damp cloth. Belvoir (see below), or Effax Lederbalsam are good occasionally (less than 1x/month).
Nubuck: Normally it is protected with scotchguard. You may need to re-apply this at some point (talk to the manufacturer). Otherwise cleaning with a soft brush is best. Do not use creams, oils, or cleansers. If you MUST use a cleaner, search for a Nubuck specific one and use sparingly.
Suede: very similar to Nubuck but more delicate even. Mostly use a brush specifically for suede, and if absolutely necessary, there are foam no rinse cleaners.
Patent: Patent and brushed leather are often on boots, as well as details on nosebands and saddles. These should never be oiled - that will destroy the shine. Instead, mostly use a dry or damp cloth, and if you need to add anything, use Saphir or Deniro products (I'm sure there are others! These are what I use).
Panels of saddles: A gentle non-solvent balsalm/cream, only occasionally. Belvoir is a great one (Carr & Day & Martin Belvoir Leather Balsam Intensive Conditioner).
Very dirty or mildewed leather: Leather that is heavily soiled (sometimes it has what looks like little black dots) from sweat and dirt accumulation requires a cleaner with a solvent. This is when you pull out the big guns - the Effax Leder-Combi+ and these types of things.
Otherwise you will have to apply such force that you will damage the leather. I sometimes forget about my girth until it gets so dirty, and this is good for that (in moderation!). This is also great for a saddle with mildew - it has an antibacterial included.
A very dirty, moldy saddle. Finally, we get to use the heavy cleaner!
One last comment - bit cleaning! This is the one exception; I dip my bit in water after my ride in the bucket/trough, or wipe it with a rag afterwards. A nice cleaner I recommend is Bit Wash - it helps take off thicker grime as seen here (for one I didn't clean immediately!).
