As a former rider and now a museum curator, let me offer a few comments.
Deb is partially right in my opinion.  But before you do anything, you'll
want to consider, are these items going to be considered "use" items (not
meaning that you'll actually put them on a horse, but that they are
'consumable.' )  If you continue to leave these items in a barn or
outbuilding, no matter how much 'stuff' you put on them, they will continue
to disintegrate and rot.

To clean, Orvus paste (available in most farm supply stores) is the mildest
non-ionic soap you can get.  That means it doesn't leave residue on the item
and it isn't very caustic.  Glycerin soap is what I used to clean my tack
when I was showing, but I'd never use it on collection items.  Also, PLEASE
don't use Lexol.  I never used it on stuff when I was showing, and I'd never
put it on collection items.  Other oils yes, but not Lexol...as I recall it
has a lot of 'junk' in it.

Finally, depending on the age and condition of the leather, sometimes you
just CAN'T bring it back.  So be prepared to spend a lot of time on this
project and still have them looking awful!?!

So back to the beginning...before you spend a lot of time trying; to
determine the best way to clean things, I think you need to resolve the
philosophical question of 'Are these collections we should be preserving in
our museum?" or "Is this 'set decoration' that is expendable.

Good luck!  Best, VivianLea

VivianLea Stevens
Curator, Old Barracks Museum
609-396-1776

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of Deb Fuller
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 10:12 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Cleaning historic leather for a living history farm

--- SG <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I have recently been charged with cleaning a collection of early 1900s
> saddles, bridles and harnesses. These objects will be displayed in a
living
> history museum. Does your institution clean leather?  If so, what methods
> do you use?  Can you recommend any products that will not cause long-term
> harm to leather?

There's a bunch of cleaning products that you can use on leather which will
keep it nice and supple and that any tack store will carry.

The old "tried and true" method is glycerine soap and a bit of water. You
don't
want to soak the leather but just use enough water to work up a good lather
with the soap and rub it in good. If it has a lot of dirt on it, use a damp
cloth to get the dirt off and then apply the glycerine soap. You don't need
to
rinse it off. Let it air dry and wash it with the glycerine soap every
couple
of months to keep it hydrated.

Glycerine soap comes in bar form and should be like $2 for a huge bar that
will
last you a long time. Any sponge or rag will work for cleaning tack but if
you
want to be "authentic", get a natural sponge. Tack stores sell a variety of
tack cleaning sponges too.

There is also a liquid form in a spray bottle called "Leather New" which
works
great! Just spray it on and work it in with a rag or sponge.

If the leather is really dried out, you will want to follow-up using an
leather
conditioner or oil. Use sparingly as too much will rot the stitching.
Needsfoot
Oil is another old stand-by which some people don't like because they claim
it
will rot your stitching. Again, if you don't soak your leather in it, you'll
be
fine. I usually apply oil with my hands and really work it into the leather.
Lexoil is another product that works well.

Horseman's One-Step is a nice cream which will both clean and hydrate your
tack. Good stuff. Tack Master and Leather Therapy are also good products.
Hydrophane is sticky, but buffs out nicely. Vogels Leather Conditioner is
expensive and best left for riding boots instead of saddles. Specific saddle
companies like Stubben and Passier have leather cleaning stuff but again, it
tends to be expensive and doesn't work any better than good old glycerine
soap.
Stay away from leather handbag cleaner as it's formulated for fine handbags,
not saddles.

Some people use Old English Furnature Polish. I've used it as well and
haven't
had any problems with it but haven't quite gotten over using furnature
polish
for leather.

A guy who works on my sidesaddle recommends something called "Flexlan" (I
think.) I haven't gotten any yet but my sidesaddle is from the 1920s and has
stayed in excellent shape with just glycerine soap.

If mold forms on your leather, don't worry. It won't hurt it. All of us at
the
barn get moldy saddles in the Summertime with the humidity. Just wipe it off
with a damp cloth and use a dehumidifier if you can. Again, you don't want
to
use too much water as that will just encourage the mold. I've heard that a
quick wipe with Listerine will help cut the mold but haven't tried it.

There are a bunch of other products out there but all in all, I think you
can't
go wrong with the glycerine soap. My only caveat is that if you have a light
colored leather (unlikely given the age of the pieces), try out your
products
on like the underside of the piece to make sure it won't darken your
leather.
I've never had this happen with older leather as the light tan color is a
relatively modern thing as all leather will natually darken with age so I
don't
think it will be a problem with your stuff.

Oh for bits and metal pieces, good old plain Colgate toothpaste and a soft
toothbrush does wonders. (And gives you horse minty fresh breath too! :)
Brasses can be polished with "Brasso" but steel parts do fine with
toothpaste.

Old leather is extemely resillent stuff and usually comes back to life with
a
little TLC. You might need to wash and oil it a few times to get it soft and
supple again but afterwards, it should feel like butter. Once you've got it
back in shape, it doesn't need much to keep it there, just the occasional
cleaning.

Oh to have good leather like that again! The modern stuff is mostly all crap
these days from cheap tanning processes and lack of demand for good leather.
My
sidesaddle that's nearly 100 years old has far better leather on it than
most
new saddles today and will probably outlast them all too. *sigh*

Good luck!

Deb




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