What's your favorite "daily" leather care product?

[one1horse]

I know this is a much discussed topic, but I haven’t seen a thread in awhile and figured it would be worth bringing up again to see if there are any new products on the market.

I’m looking for a new product to replace my usual Mad Cow leather care as my “one step”, post-ride wipe down tack cleaner. If it matters when considering products, I’m primarily using it on my custom Stubben Portos which has full grain leather. The mad cow has served relatively well as a light cleaning/conditioning product but they changed formulas the last time I bought it, and it’s just not quite the same. I’ve used the Belvoir sprays in the past and liked those, as well as both of the Higher Standards products which I liked. The HS may be what I end up going with depending on what everyone else has to say.

So! What’s everyone using as part of their regular tack cleaning routine?

[fanfayre]

regular after-ride wipe down? Effax Leder Cream in the squeeze tube.

Occasional ‘good’ deep clean- Sweet Water saddle soap (like Higher Standards but a local maker [it was in my stocking, I didn’t buy it myself]) with Passier Lederbalsam after if/when necessary. Once Sweetwater is finished I will look for/order HS.

This is only for my bridles! I rarely do more than just a damp cloth over my saddles, then once in a while (before clinics/shows usually, especially before 1st c/s of season) I will clean with above steps. I alternate between Effax and the saddle soap when I do my saddles.

[Scribbler]

Honestly, I don’t put anything on my saddles daily. I live in a wet climate, and if I washed regularly with anything water based I’d be asking for even more mold November to April. And putting any kind of cream or oil or balm on the saddle daily is going to create build up. And I don’t like the one-step products.

I find that a deep clean with glycerin soap and water, and a rubdown with Passier Ledersbalm or Belvoir or similar once in a while is just fine. If I want to do this in the winter, I need to take the saddle home so it can dry out.

[beowulf]

If you are cleaning it daily after rides? Scrub with a damp rag; if there’s sweat, a little castile soap.

My thing is for daily cleaning, I want something that won’t attract the dust from their fur in the next ride; so I avoid things that leave any sort of residue. That eliminates most conditioners, all one-steps, and most oils and/or lederbalsams, too.

I used to clean after rides religiously but eh, I think it makes the leather softer than I want. Plus I would get annoyed how my daily bridles would look dirty after one ride when the ones I hadn’t used in a while looked clean after a ride.

So now I just clean once every two/three weeks or so. I use Ledercombi after a damp rag wipe down. I will sometimes do just glycerin if I am noticing any sort of product accumulation. I’m with Scribbler, the daily cleaning had adverse effects for me in that it resulted in a fair amount of product build-up / “gunk” - but it did break down my new bridle[s] pretty nicely.

Baby wipes are another thing in my arsenal for quick wipe-downs after a ride… but I think they can encourage leather to “mold” if left alone for a bit. Or, they just don’t address the mold/fungus normal in a barn.

I like BICK 5’s cleaner a lot too, for a quick spray down. It smells terrible, though. Leaves a wonderful sheen like glycerin that repels dust.

PS @fanfayre wish you knew where you got the SW… I also got one as a stocking stuffer this year… SO does not remember where he got it :lol:

[one1horse]

I guess I wasn’t really clear on what I’m doing/looking for. My “daily” clean isn’t actually daily since I don’t ride every day. But when I do, I’m just taking a barely damp sponge, wiping it on the glycerin (mad cow) soap and then wiping down my tack. Every couple of cleanings I’ll just wipe down with water, and then about once a month or so I do a deep clean and then re-condition with Stubben’s cleaner and Hammanol. I love the Hammanol but it’s too thick for regular use. ANYWAY. I’m just looking for something that will work as a good wipe down product. Using just water regularly I’ve found is too drying, so I want something that isn’t going to leave a lot of residue but will do a decent surface clean without stripping the leather.

[Go_Fish]

I have been using Leather New on my tack for well over 40 years. Rarely have to oil anything. I have bridles well over 30 years old that I’m still using and showing in. It works that well. I use a bucket of warm water to rinse the tack sponge out as I’m cleaning. The trick to using Leather New is to not over do. Bonus - it’s cheap.

[fanfayre]

@beowulf : It came from our local Tack Store: She ships! and is wonderful!! The SW is made just up the highway about 20miles (a town called Courtenay), and it can be ordered directly too: https://sweetwaterproducts.ca/

[beowulf]

@one1horse

I guess I wasn’t really clear on what I’m doing/looking for. My “daily” clean isn’t actually daily since I don’t ride every day. But when I do, I’m just taking a barely damp sponge, wiping it on the glycerin (mad cow) soap and then wiping down my tack. Every couple of cleanings I’ll just wipe down with water, and then about once a month or so I do a deep clean and then re-condition with Stubben’s cleaner and Hammanol. I love the Hammanol but it’s too thick for regular use. ANYWAY. I’m just looking for something that will work as a good wipe down product. Using just water regularly I’ve found is too drying, so I want something that isn’t going to leave a lot of residue but will do a decent surface clean without stripping the leather.

Gotcha.

Do you like / have you tried Ledercombi (effax)?

I also love the Hammanol… but way too thick for regular use for me too. I wait until a really hot day to pull it out, clean my tack, and let it sit in the sun for a bit. I always have to wipe down with a rag though, the trade off is, that stuff really works.

p.s thank you Fanfayre! Checking out their website now.

[fanfayre]

I just remembered- I picked up some SW conditioner and it works as well as the Lederbalsam and smells wonderful to boot!

OP, I think @beowulf 's suggestion of Leder-Combi is JUST what you need- not too drying, no residue, then you can condition once in a while without worry.

[beowulf]

@fanfayre

I just remembered- I picked up some SW conditioner and it works as well as the Lederbalsam and smells wonderful to boot!

OP, I think @beowulf 's suggestion of Leder-Combi is JUST what you need- not too drying, no residue, then you can condition once in a while without worry.

I was given a small size of the SW Conditioner. It smells so good I thought it was too good, and now I don’t even use it because I want it to last forever!!

I like the Ledercombi a lot, btw, for strap goods - but you will go through a lot if your leather is thirsty. It seems easily absorbed.

This one:
https://www.doversaddlery.com/effax-leder-combi-leather-cleaner/p/X1-31001/

They changed their packaging. It used to be in a narrow, yellow container with a red cap. But it’s the same product. For those that have not used this – it is not soap. It has more of a slinky oily feel when you first apply it to the sponge - but it does not leave residue. I always wipe down with a wet rag then use this. No complaints.

[EmilyM]

I like belvoir glycerin soap. has some conditioner in it, but mostly just plain old glycerin

[Redlei44]

My saddle rarely gets cleaned - when I do clean it, I break out the Leather Therapy products. They are too expensive for daily use but they are very effective and I like the anti-mildew aspect.

My preferred “everyday” cleaner is Lexol. Needs to be wiped off with a very damp rag to finish but I find it to be excellent at removing grime without leaving a sticky residue. I don’t care for most glycerine bars, sprays, or one-step products due to residue issues. I’m going to try the leder-combi after reading all the rave reviews in this thread.

My daily tack cleaning is often just a damp towel wipe-off, though. If all the tack needs is the dust knocked off, I don’t bother with products.

[WNT]

Because it is so humid in the mid-Atlantic, most one step products are too moisturizing. The more soap-based options stripped the black dye off of my saddle, girth, boots, and half chaps. I ended up just wiping everything down with a damp cloth.

If if there was appreciable crud, I’d use Castile soap with a barely-damp sponge, then seal with Stübben glycerine soap. I almost never oiled anything after leaving Montana, the glycerine soap did the job well enough.

[MissAriel]

Daily? Just wiped down with a damp cloth. Higher Standards about once a week for a deep clean without being too drying, and Lederbalsam as needed if the leather starts to feel dry.

[SolarFlare]

Amerigo Soft Clean or Effax Ledercombi (both very similar products) are what I like for everyday cleaning. They don’t leave residue and seem to do a good job of removing dirt, sweat, and built-up gunk without drying out the leather.

[Xanthoria]

Ledercombi for me too. Daily for me meaning every couple weeks… :uhoh:

[ElementFarm]

I actually do clean my bridles every day (well, every ride, to be more accurate). I actually like Horseman’s one-step because it lightly conditions, but doesn’t leave a thick residue, and isn’t oily. I will use it on my saddles too, but only every 10 rides or so… I’m not as good at cleaning saddles.

If I feel like there’s residue, I love how ledercombi strips it, without over-drying the strapgoods. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if my tack gets soaked, or is very dry for some other reason, I like the Effax balm. I also like their balm for my saddles.

I have a climate controlled tack room, so I don’t have to worry about mold or mildew.
I love butter-soft bridles, and all of my strapgoods are Edgewood. My care routine and products have worked well on them, and many are well over a decade old and still look and feel fantastic.

[Xanthoria]

I’ve got saddles bridles over 15 yrs old and they seem to be doing great on benign neglect… perhaps it doesn’t really matter how you treat leather! :lol:

[Scribbler]

Western riders rarely clean their tack and it also lasts for decades.

Lots of aspects of horse care that derive from the British tradition are extremely time consuming. Cleaning all your tack every single day is one. Another are things like grooming and rubbing for let’s say 15 minutes, and another is hot walking forever and ever. Also anything to do with braiding and wrapping legs. Now one of the important things about the British tradition was that up to the early 1900s, it was mainly practiced by wealthy people with grooms, and then over the course of the 20th century that “groom style” standard of horse care got taught as daily care for hands-on owners, through things like Pony Club.

One night I was at the barn alone cleaning tack (which I do from time to time), and enjoying the quiet and listening to the horses eat, and thinking for some reason about the British 19th century (maybe it was first season Downton Abbey). And I thought how of all the servants’ jobs on an estate, being a groom would be one of the best, because it got you out of the house, and away from the eyes of the employers. And then I thought of course, if you were a groom circa 1850 it would absolutely be in your best interest to maximize the amount of time you needed to spend on horse care. Because all the servants worked sunup to way past sundown, and if you regularly breezed through your chores in one sector, I’m sure they’d find you chores in another. So if you were a groom and you loved being around horses, absolutely it would make sense to evolve standards of horse care that kept you happily in the barn, and not peeling potatoes or mowing the lawn or whatever.

So yes, the horses need to be hotwalked an hour a day, and they need to be brushed and “strapped” an hour a day each, and every piece of leather needs to be cleaned and polished every single day.

Now I am currently riding and doing chores for two horses a day at a self board barn, meaning I clean and feed and mix mash, and groom and tack up and untack and etcetera. Plus drive out to buy grain as needed and organize the hay deliveries every couple months and trailer out to for rides off property almost every week in summer. Cleaning the tack every time I ride is not going to happen. And my tack lasts. Leather getting too dry or too wet and moldy is a problem. Leather just getting a bit dirty is not.

I also find the mares I ride don’t love being brushed. Yay for washracks with warm water. They love that!

And another random thought: I seem to recall that at one point English riders didn’t use saddle pads? If that was so, then absolutely you’d need to clean the underside of the saddle after every ride.

[XXS]

Leovet leather foam for the ‘lazy days’ or Effax Combi. I clean the bridle after every ride.