Bensmom saddle soap - the review thread (if that's okay with Bensmom)

Y’all are awesome!

There’s gonna be a lot of soap making at my house tonight when I get home tonight!! :smiley:

OK, consider me the shopper in the remedial class. I went on etsy and searched for saddle soap: there were no matches. Did I miss the name of this wonderful product?

[QUOTE=frugalannie;6931994]
OK, consider me the shopper in the remedial class. I went on etsy and searched for saddle soap: there were no matches. Did I miss the name of this wonderful product?[/QUOTE]

The link is in Bensmom’s signature:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/HigherStandardsFarm

:slight_smile:

[QUOTE=Simkie;6932000]
The link is in Bensmom’s signature:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/HigherStandardsFarm

:)[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I’ve been looking for it as well!

Congrats Bensmom, I love when an idea takes flight!

You will certainly get lots of good word of mouth from us testers :yes:

Hey, can we start an “I was an original saddle soap tester club?”

Going to order some tonight! BTW I love the pictures on your wall in the photo on Etsy. Such a happy happy picture, lol

Y’all got me, too. Ordering now.

Ordered some citrus ginger… I despise tack cleaning so every little bit helps!

Jennifer

Ordered some too. Can’t wait to try it!

Same. Can’t wait to try it.

[QUOTE=soloudinhere;6930825]
This stuff is perfect for cleaning boots. I am really anal about my paddock boots because they DON’T last if I don’t clean them every day, so I wiped them off with a damp rag, then flipped the rag over and wiped some of this stuff on and they look and feel great.

Mine is citrus ginger as well.[/QUOTE]

Yep! I had just enough time to clean them before I left and this stuff did great! These weren’t my paddocks, but instead my “nice” pair of $!+kicker cowboy boots (as in, nice enough to wear to town but don’t get cleaned regularly and are about 5yrs old). So a good initial test I think :wink: My paddock boots are actually worse - I haven’t done a good thorough cleaning on them since before winter… whoops! Will be cleaning those, my tall boots, both saddles, several bridles, and several breast collars tomorrow and Thursday. Receiving this yummy smelling soap this week + prepping for a clinic sure has me in a cleaning mood!

I got mine! I LOVE the story! We all stood around smelling it, and my husband who is non-horsey so has no tack would like to request you make him a candle or something because he LOVED the smell so much :lol:

I love the way it feels out of the container and had to stop myself from rubbing it all over my hands. It truly smells and feels like a high end beauty product! We are heading out to the barn tomorrow and my son can’t WAIT to clean his stuff, which is a miracle right there! He also thought the story was really cool and loved that he is using the same thing as one of his idols AND that he gets to be a beta tester! Pretty heady stuff for a 12 year old boy that just started eventing in November!

I will say, for us dumbos out there, that you might want to be a little more specific on the instructions because I was really going to rub it on and wipe it off, but I see now that an earlier review says it worked better if the sponge was really damp. I am thinking that means I should dampen a sponge, take up some soap and then rub it on in a circular motion? After that I should use a towel or different (dry) sponge to wipe off? Anyway, tack cleaning has always been a mystery to me because it seems like people talk in code and everyone is just supposed to “know” what they mean and I’m the blonde that doesn’t know! LOL!!! I will check back in after we clean like crazy, but first impressions are that this is a quality product and we will definitely be re-ordering. I hope you do put together a sampler pack because now that we have smelled the lavendar vanilla, we want to smell all the others!! Thank you so much!!

This response has been AMAZING! So much fun! I think we definitely need a COTH clique – y’all are the best small business incubator EVER!!

I’m finally home from Tampa and can get to filling orders and counting samples to see what is left.

The feedback y’all are sending is incredibly helpful, plus it gives me a happy glow – I’ve done the Happy Dance several times today - in public (and amazingly, my patient DH has not left me on the side of the road! :lol: ) and I suppose I’ve spent so long wondering if it would be something that anyone would purchase, that seeing all the interest is like a dream coming true! :smiley:

And thank you for the nice comment on the photos – I have my kitchen walls covered with them and didn’t take time to “stage” the pic – i was worried it looked a little messy, but you’ve made me feel better! :lol:

Libby

Libby, don’t know how the size of your actual container relates to the size of the gladware container you sent me, but I wanted to add I liked that size. It’s just about perfect for the small tack cleaning sponges I like to use (the standard smallish round ones). Slathered it all over the leather blinders of my bridles yesterday and am headed to a CDE today (well sort of - it’s nice to have a competition two miles from home!) and will pass the word around. Whole lotta leather there!

Wheee! The containers are 8 oz and about the same as the one I sent to you – I’m also packing the “real” ones with the small round tack cleaning sponges included.

In the past, I’ve packed the 8 oz in a taller, narrower jar, and found it annoying to be able to reach the last bits at the bottom, so was delighted to find this widemouth 8 oz jars.

Good luck today! Perhaps the confidence aromatherapy will waft its way into the ponies brains?! :slight_smile: Thanks for being my guinea pig on that scent!

Libby

Late to the party but if you haven’t “expanded” your test market to Ontario, feel free to send me some to try! It sounds so awesome from what I’m seeing on this thread. If it helps I have a US address you can send it to.

[QUOTE=I wear horse hair;6932222]
I will say, for us dumbos out there, that you might want to be a little more specific on the instructions because I was really going to rub it on and wipe it off, but I see now that an earlier review says it worked better if the sponge was really damp. I am thinking that means I should dampen a sponge, take up some soap and then rub it on in a circular motion? After that I should use a towel or different (dry) sponge to wipe off?[/QUOTE]
I think this is a great question and something worth adding to the card that comes with the product. The how it should be used information never hurts. If a user has their own technique they can do that instead but the novice tack cleaner could always benefit from instructions.

[QUOTE=I wear horse hair;6932222]
I got mine! I LOVE the story! We all stood around smelling it, and my husband who is non-horsey so has no tack would like to request you make him a candle or something because he LOVED the smell so much :lol:

I love the way it feels out of the container and had to stop myself from rubbing it all over my hands. It truly smells and feels like a high end beauty product! We are heading out to the barn tomorrow and my son can’t WAIT to clean his stuff, which is a miracle right there! He also thought the story was really cool and loved that he is using the same thing as one of his idols AND that he gets to be a beta tester! Pretty heady stuff for a 12 year old boy that just started eventing in November!

I will say, for us dumbos out there, that you might want to be a little more specific on the instructions because I was really going to rub it on and wipe it off, but I see now that an earlier review says it worked better if the sponge was really damp. I am thinking that means I should dampen a sponge, take up some soap and then rub it on in a circular motion? After that I should use a towel or different (dry) sponge to wipe off? Anyway, tack cleaning has always been a mystery to me because it seems like people talk in code and everyone is just supposed to “know” what they mean and I’m the blonde that doesn’t know! LOL!!! I will check back in after we clean like crazy, but first impressions are that this is a quality product and we will definitely be re-ordering. I hope you do put together a sampler pack because now that we have smelled the lavendar vanilla, we want to smell all the others!! Thank you so much!![/QUOTE]

Bensmm would you clarify the directions? Thanks!

Sure!! I do just as Yellowbritches mentioned earlier in the thread – and I will clarify directions on the Etsy site and in packaging.

Sponge needs to be wet thoroughly but not dripping. Wipe over soap in container, wipe tack (or scrub, depending on how dirty it is!) and wipe off any visible suds or residue, with the same damp sponge. (If one side is too loaded up with soap, I flip it to the other side and wipe off) Let dry and you can follow with a conditioner if your tack needs it – since the soap is a conditioning soap, if you use it after every ride, you won’t need to use an additional conditioner. If your tack is very bad, old or just dry, I would follow with a light coat of a conditioner.

A daily wipe down with the soap is all most tack should need, though!

Let me know if that helps!

Libby

I think I’ll using it on a nearly-daily basis. As I have already proven, I take deplorable care of my frenchie saddle… It has gotten zero attention in about a year. I didn’t notice until I took my before pic that it had a butt print, and it also needs oil. I don’t think the pommel is supposed to be that light…sigh.

Suggestions for using oil afterwards?? Yes, no, maybe?