The Best Saddle Soap
Saddle soap was formulated for the leather that had the hardest job: harness, tack, and saddles that got wet, dried stiff, accumulated mud, and had to be supple and strong the next morning. It cleans and conditions in one step -- the soap lifts dirt without stripping the leather's oils, and the lanolin and fats in the formula replace some of what the cleaning removes. Use it on boots, belts, and any leather that gets heavy use.
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How to Choose
Apply saddle soap to damp leather with a damp cloth or soft brush. Work it in with small circular motions until it raises a light lather. Wipe clean with a second damp cloth. Let the leather dry away from direct heat. Follow with neatsfoot oil or a paste wax for boots you want to waterproof. Do not use saddle soap on shell cordovan -- the conditioning oils in standard formulas can over-soften the dense fiber structure. Cordovan needs its own treatment.
Fiebing's Saddle Soap Yellow
Fiebing's has been making saddle soap in Milwaukee since 1895. The Yellow formula is the original: glycerin soap base, lanolin, and a light preservative. It cleans without stripping, conditions as it cleans, and leaves a slight sheen after buffing. Every cobbler, tack shop, and bootmaker in America has a tin of this on the shelf.
A hundred and twenty years of continued production is not a marketing story. It is proof that the formula works.
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Leather Honey Leather Conditioner
A petroleum-free leather conditioner made from a blend of natural oils including lemon oil and neatsfoot. Thinner than paste-formula saddle soaps, which means it penetrates more deeply into the fiber structure. Apply to clean leather, let it absorb for thirty minutes, buff off the excess. Excellent for boots and bags that have dried out.
For leather that is already clean but dry and stiff, a thin oil penetrates where a paste conditioner sits on the surface.
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Bick 4 Leather Conditioner
A water-based leather conditioner that cleans and conditions without darkening the leather significantly. Used by cobblers for conditioning light-colored and vegetable-tanned leather where darkening from oil would be unwanted. Goes on clear, dries clear. Good for natural tan and undyed leathers.
Oil-based conditioners darken leather. Bick 4 conditions without changing the color -- essential for light-tanned and natural leathers.
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