How to Clean Tack

I had the privilege of helping a client purchase new tack and riding equipment for her horse recently.  This led to a conversation about cleaning and maintaining leather tack, which led to a blog post!

For my favorite tack, the leather that is the highest quality and would cost me the most to replace, I use good quality products.  Things that don't matter so much, like the leather straps on breakaway halters I just use cheap neatsfoot oil.  The best practice is to wipe down tack after each use with a damp cloth or sponge, or as needed.  I condition my good stuff regularly, I want it to last a lifetime.  This includes saddles, bridles, halters, girths, and anything else leather.  Bits get rinsed and occasionally sent through the dishwasher to be sterilized.  I store things I'm not using regularly in cloth bags or tack trunks.

Firstly, I put some water into a bucket and get out a tack sponge.  Any sponge will do, but I like these because they are a little tougher about getting grime off dirty tack and suds up well.  For the detailed tooling on leather saddles or the tough grime on daily used leather halters I'll take a wet toothbrush with saddle soap to it and that works well, too.

Once the sponge is wet, I rub it on some saddle soap, such as Fiebings black or yellow soap.  I rub the damp sponge on the soap, then apply the suds to the leather.  I rub it in well, removing any built up sweat, dirt, or crud.  Periodically I rinse the sponge out in the bucket of water and wipe the tack to remove any foam leftover after the dirt is gone.  For black tack the black soap is my favorite, it makes everything quite dark again even if it has started to fade.  If there isn't any conditioner put over it afterwards, though, it will dye white dressage breeches if you ride in a black saddle. 

If the tack is brown (any shade) I like to use the yellow Fiebings soap.  It doesn't change the color of the leather, so it's safe to use on saddles and bridles that I want to keep a light color.

If I want to make the brown color darker I use neatsfoot oil to darken it after it's been cleaned.  I do this by applying the oil to a dry rag and wiping the leather.  This oil will rot stitching if used too often, so be sparing with it.  I also just use it on tack that is less expensive.  In drier places like Colorado, you can use it pretty often and be ok, even once a month.  In wetter places like the western sides of Oregon and Washington, once yearly is plenty or you're looking at mold on your equipment.  In New England I would oil tack twice a year. 

For my more expensive tack, I use higher end cleaners that are pH balanced to preserve the leather.  I really like the Oakwood brand saddle soap, it doesn't change the color of the leather either. Teir conditioner is good as well, but I'm allergic to the oils in it.  (I have a lot of contact allergies, I don't know anyone else who has problems with this one.)

The higher end conditioner I do use without an allergic reaction is Passier Lederbalsam.  After the tack is clean and dry I wipe this on.  It can be buffed later after the leather has absorbed it to make it shine, but I usually skip that step since I figure the seat of my pants will be buffing the saddle soon enough.

I do love tack cleaning.  It's a soothing thing for me, often done in front of the TV the night before a horse show as part of my pre-competition ritual.  I enjoy the smells of cleaned leather and it's not unusual to find me cleaning my favorite pieces at the picnic table near the tack room on a summer day, too.