HOW TO USE SADDLE SOAP ON LEATHER?

It’s only natural to want your leather to maintain its look and feel for the years to come, and it certainly can. The key to this is caring for your boots, jackets and other leather garments properly, and learning how to use saddle soap in conjunction with the best conditioners.
There’s no other material or fabric that compares to the versatility of genuine leather. Whether it’s made of cow’s hide, sheep’s hide or any other common animal hide, leather offers the perfect balance of comfort, style, and durability. Perhaps this is why it remains one of the world’s most widely used materials in the production of jackets and accessories.
If you’re thinking about buying new leather pants or some other leather garment, you’ll need to know how to care for it. Leather — like all materials — requires regular maintenance to preserve its original appearance and characteristics. Failure to do so could result in degradation and subsequent shortening of the lifespan of your leather garment.
While there are dozens of ways to clean and care for leather, one of the best all-around solutions is to use saddle soap. So, what is saddle soap exactly? And how do you use it on leather? To learn more about saddle soap, keep reading.
The Basics
Some people assume that saddle soap is designed specifically for leather saddles, but this is a misconception. Granted, as its name suggests, you can certainly use saddle soap to clean and maintain saddles, but this is far from its only application. Saddle soap is perfect for a range of leather products, including, but certainly not limited to:- Jackets
- Shoes
- Boots
- Belts
- Trousers
What is Saddle Soap Made Of?
Saddle soap is a type of leather conditioning product that’s used to clean and condition leather, as well as protect it from damage. Although there are dozens of different types and varieties of saddle soap available for sale, most contain some basic ingredients such as lanolin and beeswax. Also known as wool wax or wool grease, lanolin is a wax-like substance that’s excreted by wool-bearing animals like sheep. Technically speaking, lanolin consists mostly of long-chain waxy esters, along with trace amounts of lanolin alcohols, acids, and hydrocarbons. There are between 8,000 and 20,000 different types of esters in lanolin. This unique composition makes lanolin — and products containing lanolin (such as saddle soap) — particularly effective at cleaning and conditioning leather products. Lanolin has powerful moisturizing properties, which is why it is also often used in infant moisturizing creams and lotions. Furthermore, it is commonly used in lip balm, as it moisturizes and protects the lips from dehydration.The Benefits of Using Saddle Soap on Leather
If you’ve ever shopped at a leather specialty store, you’ve probably encountered a plethora of leather cleaning and conditioning products, all labeled as “the best leather care product”. So, why should you use saddle soap to maintain your leather goods? First of all, saddle soap provides leather with just the right amount of moisture to prevent it from drying out. As you probably already know, leather has a tendency to dry out over time if not treated properly. This is especially true if you use it outdoors where it’s exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) light. Over time, the sunlight and dry air will cause the moisture within the leather to evaporate, and when this happens, the leather will become dry, start feeling rough, and become brittle. This can often result in the leather cracking and suffering substantial and sometimes irreparable damage. Using saddle soap and regularly conditioning your leather garments will prevent this from happening by supplying leather with enough moisture and protection from the elements. Additionally, saddle soap contains several powerful cleaning compounds and can remove virtually any stain from your leather products. To sum up, you can use saddle soap to clean, maintain, moisturize and protect any leather product, from a saddle to a belt.
How to Clean and Condition
Now that you know a little bit about the benefits of using saddle soap when cleaning and conditioning leather, it’s time to get started with the cleaning and conditioning routine.Prepare The Area and Kit You Will be Using
First things first. Make sure you clean the table or other area you will work on and place everything you need within arm’s reach. This is an important first step since your damp leather is likely to pick up any dust and small particles from the surfaces around it. Here is what you are going to need:- A washing cloth
- A drying cloth
- A cloth or a sponge for applying saddle soap
- A bowl of clean water
- Leather soap
- Any other conditioning products you intend to use