How to Care for Leather Tack
Leather care is not complicated, but it is easy to do badly, and the wrong products do slow damage you will not notice for a year. Here is what I do.
Three things: clean, condition, maintain.
Clean
A quick wipe once a week with a leather cleaner that conditions as it cleans. The important part is what it must not contain: glycerine.
Glycerine dries leather out and turns it gummy, and it deteriorates the piece slowly enough that you will not connect the cause to the effect. Which means putting the saddle soap down. I use Effax Leder-Combi — gentle, deeply penetrating, not greasy.
Condition
Use a formula made for tack. Cooking oils leave leather greasy and over-oiled, and they do not waterproof anything.
I use Passier Lederbalsam. It soaks all the way in, so the surface stays dry to the touch, and it waterproofs over time — which makes the weekly clean easier, because eventually a wipe with plain water is enough.
Maintain
Keep the dirt and the sweat off it. I wipe every piece of tack with a rag after every ride. Once leather has been properly waterproofed by conditioner, water is fine for that wipe.
That is the whole routine, and it is the difference between tack that lasts a few seasons and tack that outlives you.
What never gets wet
No water, no cleaner and no conditioner on any of these:
- Crystals
- Painted leather
- Suede and roughout
- Rawhide
- Inlay
- Hardware
Rawhide in particular will not forgive you.