Sorry boys, late to the party. Been out of town for a week and just getting back into the flow of things. Pretty interesting discussion so far. I'll tell you what I use. My perspective comes not only as a maker but as an end user too. My recommendations are also from custom saddle makers that we have used over the years. Long time ago I figured they might be someone to listen too. These saddles can cost more than a used car, so taking care of them is important. Plus they are used and used hard in all weathers and with an additional wear factor not seen on most sheaths or holsters etc, a sweaty horse.
I will use a compressor to blow loose dust and dirt away first. I take care to blow it away from the saddle as much as possible.
Not a big fan of saddle soaps, don't own any. Nothing against em but If some leather is really dirty I use warm water with some Dawn in it. Works extremely well and most folks have it on hand all the time.
It works so well I often times have to change it out and start with a new batch of water. It can get to be darn near mud in that bucket. Here's the inside of the fender (the stirrup is bent up over the seat of the saddle). That's dried horse sweat and its gonna get a good scrubbing with the soap and water:
I too am a big fan of Skidmores, heck 25 odd years ago I was a dealer for Skidmores. Sold it in our booth at shows. No longer a dealer but definitely a user. This product is recommended by many saddle makers and is by our current saddle maker. They even use it during construction, getting to a lot of the places that cause squeaks on a new saddle that are hard to get too after the saddle is built. Skidmore's is a great conditioner and penetrates deeply. It's also pretty good on leather that has suffered some abrasion.
Another saddle maker friend of mine is very big on the Australian leather creams. I've found one that I really like called Oakwood. This is fantastic stuff and I highly recommend it. This is my second big tub of it and it's almost gone. I really like it. I don't think it conditions quite as deeply as Skidmore's but it does set up a protective finish afterwards that I think is better than the Skidmore's. In fact its so good I use it as the finish for larger items like rifle scabbards:
It was used on both of these scabbards.
I apply it by hand and then use a brush for tight spots or tooling:
Third item I use is called Saddle Butter. I use this anywhere the leather is in direct contact with the horse:
Anyhoo that Saddle Butter doesn't really apply to sheaths and holsters but works good on revitalizing old stuff too.
More a lil later. Gotta go feed those critters these things go on.
