Leather maintenance
Old leather accessories
Material
- a bucket of water
- a dry cloth
- a used knife with a smooth blade
- some neat's foot oil or Leather Soap
Directions for use
• 1 Soak the material in warm water for around twenty seconds.
2 Hang the leather, then friction the leather part with the cloth: the target is to remove all dirt. Repeat the operation without soaking the leather in the water.
3 Take the knife and scratch areas difficult to reach (bit fastening loop, under the «rings»), taking care not to dig a hole in the leather.
4 Take the paintbrush and uniformly apply some neat's foot oil without exceeding. Store the leather in a dry place for twenty-four hours.
Make your life easier! Use a four-hook anchor (in the red circle on the picture) to hang your bridle. This accessory is sold at about €4.
5 Verify then its good flexibility. If it's stiff and it creaks, apply again some neat's foot oil. On the contrary, if you reached the wished flexibility, replace the neat's foot oil with some glycerine soap or with a nourishing cream specific for leather. Precautions for use: if you wish to keep your leather in a good condition, take care to regularly treat it, at least once a week, at worst, once a month. Don't forget that treating leather allows you to check seams, and therefore to avoid bad surprises.
Leather in a good condition
Material
- a bucket of warm water
- a sponge with a rough side
- a glycerin soap
Directions for use
Clean the leather with clear water, vigourously frictioning.
However, if a dirty layer persists, use the rough side brushing the leather with precaution, to avoid scratching it.
Rinse the sponge, dry it and generously soak it in glycerine soap. Apply the soap on the leather rubbing it in order to let it go in.
In the end, store the bridle folded as in the picture, with closed noseband and throatlatch. When you clean the bridle, don't forget the bit.
New leather accessories
Material
- Neat's foot oil, paintbrush
Directions for use
In the first two days, put some neat's foot oil on the new leather parts (without using them to ride). Once you reached the wished result (leather that doesn't creak and remains flexible), you can start using glycerine soap and a sponge to treat it. The operation will be repeated maximum four times; if more, you would risk making your leather spongy and frail. Please note that the neat's hoof oil tends to let the clear leather darken. As you reached the desired colour, stop using the oil and use the neutral shoe polish until reaching the wished flexibility.
