WARHORSE Solutions Inc: WARHORSE Cleaning Soap: Old Saddle and Laundry

WARHORSE Multipurpose Cleaning Soap Gets a Challenge:
OLD SADDLE and handwashed laundry--SAMSUNG Washing Machine Died.
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Since I've been giving out my glycerin soap, many people have used it on their leather goods. The feedback has been positive. I'm sharing the ingredients and some research info I have learned about saddle soaps and leather conditioner. Since I can adjust my natural glycerin soap recipe, I can modify it to fit various cleaning needs.

WARHORSE Cleaning Soap is a basic soap recipe: saponified vegetable oil, glycerin, some water, and lye. All true soaps must be made with lye. A quick ph test verifies that no lye is left in the soap, as it is used up to turn the oil into soaps. Also, with my glycerin supply, my current recipe includes approx. 40% glycerin in the liquid cleaning soap. So, like Lexol leather products tout, my soap is "glycerin-rich." WARHORSE does not have "oils" floating around that will be left on the surface of the leather, but the glycerin adds conditioning qualities. But, my Glycerin Bar can add some awesome leather conditioning if that is desired.

After Lindsey cleaned a western saddle, my father saw the before and after pics. So, he dug out some very old saddles that haven't been touched--literally--in 30 years. My sister and I worked on a Saddlebred and Arab farm when we were teens, and the saddles have sat on a shelf in a stall since then. When I pulled them off his tailgate, a few wasps flew out. The dust and mold enveloped us as I dropped it on the garage floor. One of the saddles is old, old (one in the very back), and if anyone has info about it, please email me at trweicker@gmail.com. It migrated from Cotswold's Farm in Vermont about 40 years. Someone saw it this weekend at FENCE and thought it could be 100 years old and an officer's saddle. I appreciate any info. Here's the pics after cleaning with WARHORSE Cleaning Soap and the Glycerin Bar:

rawhide stitching

I read about Lexol, Leather Honey, and Effax leather products. Also, there is lots of "expert" leather advice, where a few people said the leather conditioner needed to be made from animal tallow as those unsaponified oils work better with the leather--it is an animal product--makes sense. If this is the case, I can easily get my hands on some beef tallow. Anyone have an opinion or experience with this option, please jump in with comments or suggestions. Most of the products I researched are vegetable oil based with glycerin, beeswax, or coconut oil. Application and frequency vary drastically as well, with caution about stretching the fibers or over cleaning. Wow, I guess personal taste and experience will determine who likes my WARHORSE for cleaning leather and Glycerin Bar for conditioning. I just made a new batch of the glycerin bar with some coconut oil added at the end of the saponification process. I threw in a tad of some orange and cedar essential oil for a pleasant aroma. A few people are going to try it out.

glycerin bars, with some coconut oil and a little
orange/cedar oil for scent

As many leather cleaners recommend, "Apply with a damp sponge or 100% cotton towel to work up a foam that lifts the dirt. Rinse thoroughly with another clean or wet sponge or cloth. Pat dry with clean towel." Of course, many people have a different process for cleaning the tack--application and how often.

On the topic of ph, all natural soaps have a ph 0f 9-10. 5, bottom line. There is no way I can get my soaps lower than 9 without adding TEA (synthetic sulfates or phosphates). Or, if I use citric acid or vinegar to drop the ph below 9, then the soap loses its soap qualities, and it begins to convert back to some FFA's (free fatty acids). In other words, the soap now has oil in it and will leave oils on surfaces. For a cleaning soap, this is not desired. I don't want vegetable oils on my white shirts, my VW Jetta, my windows. Plus, the glycerin still provides a softening aspect to laundry or leather.

This morning I pulled the saddle out of the basement and took a look. The flaps are sooo much softer and pliable. Somebody needs to use this thing and give the leather fibers a workout. I hope the rawhide stitching doesn't break.

Anyway, the test won't be done by me because I am not getting on a horse any time soon, but am washing clothes in a cooler outside my garage and waiting on a Samsung repairman to arrive. Laundry soap is my WARHORSE; I add some lavender for a nice smell. The men have got to have some work clothes that are not covered in concrete dust, red dirt, and form oil.