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In a desperate fix for saddle/bridle cleaning supplies no saddle soap Any household items to substit2007-11-24 21:17:43

- kaylie

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Vegetable oil will work to oil it but before oiling a saddle you must clean it. Use a bit of dish soap and a moist cloth and clean our tack as normal. A tiny bit of vegetable oil will work. Murphy's oil soap will dry out your leather but their new multi purpose cleaner that comes in a spray won't. Just oil the leather with vegetable oil when you are done. If you have glycerin hand soap, that will work better than dish soap and after you can buff your tack to a beautiful shine. Believe it or not toothpaste is excellent for polishing metal and silver. Wash your irons, bits, buckles and conchos with it and they'll sparkle.

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There is a man who hand makes his saddles, and they sell upwards of $15000.00. These are excellent saddles with real silver on them. Obviously he would do nothing to hurt these saddles and what he uses is Ivory dish soap and water. If you have a spray bottle cover bottom of spray bottle by about 1/8 of an inch, and the rest water. Spray only the leather (not the seat, you could if it was english) and use a scrub brush to lightly lift off the dirt, and then spray off with water. I have done this a numerous times, and it worked awesome. After we have done this we set it out to dry, and it looks like new again.

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I've heard people criticize this, but I use extra virgin olive oil sometimes. (not vegetable oil, or sunflower oil). It has always worked wonders for me! Murphy's soap is the best, when you get some cash, but try that for now.

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my mom is such a freak of clean tack and i don't even show! if there's a little bit of dust, she just has to get it off. soooo, my mom just dampens a cloth and wipes wherever it needs cleaning.

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I use water to clean all the visible dirt and grime off, then use a little dove soap with water, this opens up the pores in the leather and cleans. After that, use oil to make the tack supple and keep it in best condition. I use olive oil on my tack, but vegetable oil should work fine also. I recommend oiling on a day you are not going to ride so the oil can have time to soak into the leather, don't ride with freshly oiled tack cause it can come off on you/the horse and might make the reins slippery.

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I don't know if an expert saddler would agree but in a bind at shows I have used a gentle facial cleaner (netrogena or something like it, very basic) without any salicylic acid or the like (no, acne facial washes will not work for this purpose). I also have used a gentle facial moisturizer (my own actually, SK-II, haha I was in a bind, what can I say?) to help moisturize a bit of leather that was nicked to help it blend in. It seemed to work and soak in nicely and since I use these products on my face everyday and leather is really just dry skin, they cannot be that bad! I wouldn't use SK-II however on an entire saddle, it would be a bit pricier than standard neatsfoot oil!

I'm sure olive oil would work as well because the Greeks used to bathe in it to moisturize their skin.

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I would use a very mild soap for cleaning the gear, like liquid Ivory as it won't damage the leather. Then follow up with an oil to protect the leather. Olive or sunflower oil can work in a pinch.

Seriously though, how hard it is to get saddle soap? You can find it at any shoemaker and any store that carries shoe polish.