What Do You Use Saddle Soap For?

Hot weather is great, and I enjoy summer nights more than necessary, but it has a side effect on my winter gear. Genuine leather becomes cracked and dried from the heat as much as from exposer to UV rays, much like our skin does under sun. I use saddle soap to recondition all my leather stuff. It is the best moisturizer ever.

What Do You Use Saddle Soap For?

We use saddle soap mainly for two purposes: preserving the leather’s health and thus make it more durable and keeping the dust and dirt away from the natural micro-cracks that form in leather. You create a protection shield over the surface when you apply saddle soap to your leather goods. It definitely prolongs their lifespan significantly.

What is Saddle Soap?

Saddle soap is a leather conditioner which is usually made from a combination of beeswax and lanolin. When those two come together, they create the best care recipe for your worn-out boots.

Many cosmetics items use lanolin for skin treatment. It is mainly a waterproof wax obtained from wool-bearing animals like sheep. Infant care products take advantage of it in diaper rash creams, so you know it is extremely gentle. Many people have had a taste of it, quite literally, from the lip balm that you use to prevent cracks on dry lips.

The concept is the same with boots. It is the best preserver to maintain your leather goods. Beeswax is all-natural and secreted by the honey bees. It provides the creamy consistency for saddle soap.

Fine leather goods are not cheap; they look and feel marvelous. That is why they are always one of the best-selling items for winter clothing. Saddle soap is the number one leather conditioner in the market because it is highly effective and economical in the long run. However, you have to use it regularly to see its true potential.

Saddle soap provides moisture and creates a thin layer on the surface to protect the leather from future deterioration due to dehydration and debris.

The protective layer makes your boots stain resistant. The drier the leather means that the stains will get deeper on the surface, which would eventually make it harder to clean. Another benefit is that it brings back some of the color lost over time, and softens the leather.

What Type of Leather Should You Use Leather Soap On?

You can use leather soap on all genuine leather products, whether they are made from cow, sheep, or any other animal skin. Regardless of its nature, leather dries out over time, which can also lead to cracking. However, you can maintain your leather handbags, shoes, belts, upholstery, furniture, and jackets with ease.

Never let them get dried-out and fade away. Saddle soap helps to recover and moisturize them. If you don’t take the necessary precautions, you will notice that your boots will start to peel off even if you never wear them. I lost many pairs in the past just because I thought that they were safe sitting in the closet. It is not the mud and cold weather that ruins the leather, it is the dehydration that gets them!

The practice of nourishing leather items with saddle soap has been used for centuries now. Other artificial products never come close to the natural benefits it provides. But you have to be careful when selecting the best saddle soap for your beloved boots; not all of them are produced from natural ingredients. Artificial chemicals can do more harm than good for your precious boots.

You should also check out the color of the saddle soap; white ones are used for lighter colors while the yellow ones are good for darker colors. If you have a passion for leather and never want to give up on your old shoes like me, then you definitely need one. You can wear them for another twenty years with your grandkids if you maintain them regularly.

How Do You Use Saddle Soap?

Best way to understand how to use saddle is to actually pick up a pair of shoes and some saddles soap and follow along with the instructions. Don’t worry! There is no way to get this wrong, maybe you won’t get the best results but it is not like you risk actually damaging the shoes.

Let’s get started! You will need a good shoe brush, an applicator brush (optional), damp cloth, some old rag, a glass of warm water, the saddle soap, and of course your boots.

First, take off the laces and put them aside. Use the shoe brush to get rid of all the dust and debris on the boots. Get the damp cloth and clean out each of them carefully before applying the saddle soap.

Open up the soap tin. You probably noticed that the saddle soap is very solid; you will need some sort of rag or similar to apply it on the leather. You can also use an applicator brush if you like, but I strongly suggest using a rag instead.  

Damp the rag in the warm water, just a little bit, don’t soak it all the way. The warm water help to soften the saddle soap. Move the rag in a circular motion while gently pressing on the soap to pick up a good amount of wax on it. Then again, rub the saddle soaped rag on one of the boots in a circular motion. Soap on the boot will disappear once the leather fully absorbs it. Repeat until all the surface of the boot is wiped with the saddle soap.

Then move onto the other pair. That is all it takes to apply saddle soap. The more you apply the better the leather will be protected so don’t be stingy!

Do You Need to Use Conditioner after Using Saddle Soap?

It is important and necessary to use conditioner after using saddle soap. Stitching on the boots will weaken as you apply more of it on to your leather boots on a regular basis. Plus, the leather skin will also get worn out over time for the same reason. This is completely normal, and you should not avoid cleaning your leather items with saddle soap just because for that.

Remember, the main duty of the saddle soap is to clean the leather and create a layer on it to keep away the dirt. The only issue here is that the mineral oils inside the saddle soap are a bit strong, and they can easily damage the sturdiest leather over time. So, when you are done rubbing, get a clean cloth and pick up the excess saddle soap from the boots. Then get yourself a quality leather conditioner and apply it well on to your boots to make them look like new.

If you use conditioner after using saddle soap, it will work as a moisturizer and protect the boots well. This way you will further enhance the quality of your leather boots. Conditioner for leather is like Aloe Vera for your face.

Don’t forget, it is best to apply saddle soap and the conditioner together in order to maintain moisture on your leather goods. Otherwise, they will crack and peel off no matter how well you store them.