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

[hequestrian]

I just received my Starla’s Sugar and Spice and used it for the first time today and it is awesome! It has a very subtle scent that is incredibly tasty and definitely makes you want a cookie. My dog also found it to smell delicious and I found him trying to lick the soap while I was cleaning my tack today! I told Libby today - this soap could totally inspire soap hoarding. The thought that scents are limited editions and won’t be made again makes you want to buy it in bulk and save it for a rainy day.

Can’t wait to try the Conditioner and the new Christmas scent too!

[Debbie]

I got a preview sample of the Cinnamint since it’s named after my sweet boy. It is awesome - very cinna-minty. Phinney is a peppermint fiend, I’ll test him out on some tack cleaned with the new scent and report back. I don’t think it will be an issue. I don’t find that the scents linger on the leather at all. They are just a very pleasant aspect of cleaning.

I also love the sugar & spice scent. I’ve got the jar in my truck and I just have to sniff it randomly. lol I REALLY want a candle with that scent. Hint, hint Libby!

[cmdrcltr]

I’ve been following this thread since it started, Bensmom, and was just waiting for Xmas specials to also order some for myself to try. I’m over at etsy right now, and there isn’t an option for citrus ginger in the 8 oz. jars anymore. Will you be adding to that inventory? Just wondering, since I’d like to place my order all at once. Thanks!

[Bensmom]

Hmmmmmm – There are 95 units available – I hope you like it!

[cmdrcltr]

Duh, found it. My hazy, past-my-bedtime brain looked at the picture and read the sponge as a bar of handsoap, and I thought you’d posted those, Bensmom.

[amastrike]

Libby, are there supposed to be two listings for some things?

Double and triple the idea for a lemon stick scent! I think it might be a little tricky to keep it from smelling like lemon Pledge, but I have confidence in you! But I’m still not giving up hope for a vanilla citrus scent.

Also, my old man would love a Twinkie scent.
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I really want lotion! Mostly for myself, but also because it’ll make a good gift for non-horse people.

[Oberon13]

Ahhhh! The old gray man eating the Twinkie totally made my day!

[dayglowmaple]

[QUOTE=skyy;7233775]
This may sound stupid but…for those of you who have used the peppermint soap - have you had trouble with your horse chewing your tack? My guy loves peppermints and will sometimes grab his reins in his mouth when I’m leading him. I don’t want yummy smelling reins to encourage this bad habit![/QUOTE]

Just today I left my jar of rosemary mint soap in the grooming stall for a few minutes, and I had to run back and grab it out of the mouth of the youngster who was then led into that area by a distracted owner. :eek: But as yummy as the soap itself smells in the jar, the aroma doesn’t linger long enough on tack to cause similar problems.

[amastrike]

This soap literally saved a bridle for me.

I was digging through my trunk and found a bridle that had been buried at the bottom for, um, a while coughabout3yearscough. It was disgusting. If it wasn’t for Higher Standards soap, I would have tossed it or abandoned it for someone else to take. But I figured it would be a good challenge for HS soap. I was wrong. It wasn’t much of a challenge at all. The soap took care of the mold and layers of filth easily. I didn’t even need to use a knife to scape off the crud! This stuff is magic.

[Frizzle]

I have LOTS of Higher Standards samples and am slipping one in w/all my orders. :yes:

[Event4Life]

I love love LOVE my soaps! My paddock boots are, for the first time ever, getting cleaned REGULARLY. I just cleaned them as well as my dubarrys and my hands smell delicious and feel soft.

Conditioner question: Should I have wiped it off after? My bridle (its OLD and had gone quite a few years without use) needed a few rounds of conditioner to get supple again and was a little sticky. I cleaned it first then conditioned it. The bridle now looks almost new and feels supple again.

The conditioner worked beautifully on my dubarrys, in fact as good or better than the dubarry conditioner.

I left my rosemary mint soap out at the barn and one of the ladies kept taking some just for her hands, lol. Everyone was addicted to the smell!

[Bensmom]

I have found one of my saddles that was abused by a “friend” that borrowed it <grrrrrr>, needed a great deal of the leather balm, and then felt a bit sticky. I have found with it, I apply it with my hands, and then after time for it to soak in as much as possible (i.e. the next day) I can buff it with a soft cloth and the stickiness is gone and it has a lovely glow.

I have not had that issue with my other saddles that were not cardboard dry.

I’m still collecting data on how it is working for people, so thank you for sharing!!

[HorseKrazy]

Ordering my Christmas presents right now! My farriers wife is going to love me (supposed to be a present for him but I’m sure he will give it to his horse trainer wife)!

[Event4Life]

[QUOTE=Bensmom;7245114]
I have found one of my saddles that was abused by a “friend” that borrowed it <grrrrrr>, needed a great deal of the leather balm, and then felt a bit sticky. I have found with it, I apply it with my hands, and then after time for it to soak in as much as possible (i.e. the next day) I can buff it with a soft cloth and the stickiness is gone and it has a lovely glow.

I have not had that issue with my other saddles that were not cardboard dry.

I’m still collecting data on how it is working for people, so thank you for sharing!![/QUOTE]

Thank you! I haven’t used it in a week or so, last time was on a Biltmore Estate trail ride and arabian pony got very wound up so bridle got extremely sweaty and is now a little stiff again. I will condition it again today & buff it with a soft cloth tomorrow.

[Oberon13]

I love my citrus ginger soap! I got it last week and rode the poor hairy mare in the 70 degree weather we had last Friday. Needless to say, she was sweating like nobody’s business around her ears and under the cheek pieces (and in her eyelids - she’ll get foamy white sweat in the upper folds of her eyelids…adorable). So, I whipped out my new Higher Standards, and boy, do I love it! It cleaned the gunk off beautifully - everyone in the barn was commenting on how wonderful the aisle smelled as I cleaned - and it left the leather clean and smooth. I didn’t have any tacky feel after I wiped everything down with a clean rag (and I had to really soap up a few parts of the bridle).

Christmas shopping for barn friends just got a whole lot easier!

[Grasshopper]

I agree with whomever said the cumulative effect is really noticeable and sets it apart from other soaps. My ponies had most of the summer off (well, one is mostly retired anyway) and when I pulled out the tack to start the young one back up, it felt softer and cleaner than it usually does coming out of storage. I was using the HSLC over the spring.

I’ve started using it on my tall boots too–leaves them shinier longer than cleaning with just water, gets the gunk off better, and doesn’t seem to inhibit polishing up (which, ahem, I don’t do often).

[drawstraws]

I just went online to try to place an order (my first Christmas shopping!) and it lets me put the full size soaps in my cart but it tells me that the mini-gift-pack can’t be shipped to the U.S. and won’t let me add it. Help?

[Bensmom]

Fixed it!!

The minis have turned out very cute – I am waiting on a delivery of the jars to be able to make a bunch more of them, so the minis won’t ship until next week.

[drawstraws]

Yay!! SOOO excited and I barely ever clean my tack. LOL!

[skyy]

I currently have the Citrus Ginger scent (eagerly awaiting my shipment of a different scent and balm). Two weeks ago, I took home DD’s bridle and martingale, took them apart and totally cleaned them. They were beyond foul (think many normal rides, 2 very long hunter paces, sweaty pony, multiple creek crossings, etc). I don’t know the last time she had cleaned her tack (she has a different bridle for showing so there is really no impetus to clean her schooling bridle and martingale). At her next ride she noticed right away that I had cleaned her tack and commented on how wonderful it looked. This is the best part - wait for it…at the end of the ride she looked at me and said “Mom, can I use that new soap you got every time I ride?” It brought tears to my eyes! I know that it’s only been about 10 days (and 5 rides) but she has cleaned her bridle after every ride. I’m willing to bet that’s more than she’s cleaned it in the past 2 years!