Leather Care

Just posing the question of what you good folk use as a leather conditioner/cleaner for your riding gear?
I have a jacket and pants I'll be selling soon and it needs a bit of a scrub.
I'd also like to start off on the right foot with looking after my new one.

So what do you use?

Dubbin works well for my boots jacket and pants. 1000s of people use it for saddlery so can't go too far wrong. It'll make flat black leathers shiny though.

Prior to Dubbin I clean the leathers with lux flakes dissolved in water and my best rag

I bought a big tin of this stuff, so far seems alright, but I've not used it long term.

http://www.leatherseal.com.au/

reddog wrote:Dubbin works well for my boots jacket and pants. 1000s of people use it for saddlery so can't go too far wrong. It'll make flat black leathers shiny though.

Prior to Dubbin I clean the leathers with lux flakes dissolved in water and my best rag

Thanks RD. I've always used dubbin on my boots. In fact I used it Friday on my new Alpinestars but thought the tacky feel might be a bit much on a new jacket. I like the soap tip

PL your stuff looks good. Is it tacky for a day or so like Dubbin is?

Never been too fussy about the exact products but always buy from places which sell saddlery. Any product that is used routinely keep harness and saddles in good condition is probably as good as you can do for leather clothing. Cleaner? Joseph Liddey Saddle Soap - nothing better. etc. Horses present a particular challenge. The leather gear is often made wet with sweat, water, containing salt, and oils. It takes a good product to clean and preserve them, and keep them pliable. "Snowseal" (get at ski shops) is a good product for boots. Apply, work well into seams, melt in with a hair dryer. Seems to be very compatible with polishes and adhesives.

jstava wrote:Never been too fussy about the exact products but always buy from places which sell saddlery. Any product that is used routinely keep harness and saddles in good condition is probably as good as you can do for leather clothing. Cleaner? Joseph Liddey Saddle Soap - nothing better. etc. Horses present a particular challenge. The leather gear is often made wet with sweat, water, containing salt, and oils. It takes a good product to clean and preserve them, and keep them pliable.

Good point but a pic of a horse on the box/tin/jar has the same effect as one of a motorbike

2wheelsagain wrote:

reddog wrote:Dubbin works well for my boots jacket and pants. 1000s of people use it for saddlery so can't go too far wrong. It'll make flat black leathers shiny though.

Prior to Dubbin I clean the leathers with lux flakes dissolved in water and my best rag

Thanks RD. I've always used dubbin on my boots. In fact I used it Friday on my new Alpinestars but thought the tacky feel might be a bit much on a new jacket. I like the soap tip

PL your stuff looks good. Is it tacky for a day or so like Dubbin is?

No Chris, I've used Dubbin and it seams like soap (sort of smells soapy) compared to this stuff which is more like wax and eucalyptus, as you can see it's not a cheap option, I also noticed a product called Snow Seal when I was searching for the link, which is based on Bee's wax which sounded good too.

Just a note on snow seal. If you leave an excess on the surface, it will collect dirt, because it sticks to the wax - it is a beeswax based product. If your boots are not black, this will make them look dirty. They will be. To avoid this, wipe every bit of the excess off after treatment, and polish with your favourite boot polish. You will then have the softer wax through the stitching and leather with a harder layer of conventional boot polish over the top.

Thanks guys. Just found a tube of snow seal in the laundry.
Might call into the local horse joint and see what they have too if tomorrow is slow.

Shoe polish ,ive heard somepeople say its a no-no but ill stick with it .Not greasy ,5000000000000 million shoes carnt be wrong .
Use a brush then a rag .Also keeps the leather black .

Re-Cycled wrote:I bought a big tin of this stuff, so far seems alright, but I've not used it long term.

http://www.leatherseal.com.au/

+1

Jstava is spot on the money TWA, I have always bought leather conditioner at saddle shops. I've had the same leather jacket for 12yrs and it's still in great nick. My preference is Oakwood leather conditioner. It contains tea tree, eucalyptus & emu oils, bees wax & lanolin. It is also under $20 for a 500ml tub that lasts forever.

Well like a gay man at a bucks night I stand out from the crowd and bought this leather conditioner.


$20 at the local horse supplies joint.

Only tried it on my boots so far but they came up like new. Oh hang on they are new

[quote="2wheelsagain"]Well like a gay man at a bucks night I stand out from the crowd and bought this leather conditioner.


+1 i was given a free tub when i brought the boots works great.