Remember that new tack feeling? How the leather feels so supple and pristine. The silver is so shiny, and the are bits so clean. So perfect in your hands and on your horse? Unfortunately, it’s a feeling that soon disappears as you use it unless you keep up with your tack maintenance. Once exposed to air, sweat, dirt, and saliva, leather can grow dry, crack, and mold in damp conditions. Silver can grow rusty, black, and break. Gross, right? That’s why it is essential to clean your tack regularly, using cleaning products such as soaps and conditioners.
The Importance of Tack Maintenance
Tack is expensive for some riders, especially when made for your horse. That’s one of the many reasons tack maintenance is so important.
Why is regular cleaning essential?
Leather is a fickle material that needs lots of love and care to keep it supple. Too little moisture when you store it, and the leather will dry out, crack, and crumble. This causes the leather to become unsteady and likely to snap, causing a safety hazard when you ride. The last thing you need as you jump a fence is a rein to break, or a stirrup leather! Dry leather will also harden to fit poorly on your horse, making them increasingly uncomfortable with the saddle and bridle rubbing on their sensitive skin.
Too much moisture is also terrible for leather. Mold loves leather and can become a huge problem because it spreads quickly. It can stain leather and make the material unstable, making it unsafe. It can also affect your horse, as mold spores can harm your horse’s airways (not to mention yours!!).
Leather is not the only thing affected by improper maintenance. Rust can ruin the beautiful silver on your bridles and saddles and turn your show tack into no-show tack. While some bits are made to rust a little, bits made of stainless steel, copper, or brass are not okay rusty and should be tossed. Knowing how expensive our tack is, it’s beneficial to know how to clean horse tack by using good cleaners and soaps to keep tack clean, safe to use, and lasting as long as possible.
Finding the right place to clean your tack
First things first, find a good place to clean your tack. The best place is where you can hang a tack cleaning hook for easy access to your tack while you clean it. These hooks are also a great place to leave your tack while it dries before putting it up. Make sure you have your tack cleaning supplies close at hand so you can easily switch from cleaners to conditioners. Have a lot of tacks you need to clean? Grab your earbuds and some music, a chair, and settle in.
The Different Types of Tack Cleaning Products
Tack cleaning products are as prolific as your local box store chain’s shampoo aisle. But what do you need, and what is just a gimmick?
What do you clean tack with?
You only need 7 items to clean your tack with:
Sponges
Saddle Soap
Leather Cleaner
Leather Conditioner
Leather Oil
Silver Polish
Bit Cleaner
But what do these cleaners do? Below we go in-depth as to why you need these special products.
Leather Cleaners
Leather cleaners are designed to clean and protect leather surfaces without damaging them. They can remove dirt, body oils, sweat, and light stains from natural, sealed, and synthetic leather. The right cleaner can also help prevent the leather's natural oils from drying out and cracking.
Leather Conditioners and Oils
Leather conditioners and oils help nourish leather fibers, restore flexibility, and protect leather from stains and liquids. Conditioners can also help prevent leather from drying out, cracking, and splitting.
Specialized Products
Silver polish cleans and shines silver while protecting silver from tarnishing. Bit cleaner can remove spit and grime from bits while also lubricating and protecting bits from rust and corrosion.
The 13 Best Tack Cleaning Products, Soaps, and Conditioners
You’ve got your list; it’s time to shop. So let’s get down to the dirty (or should I say clean?) truth of the best products. We compiled a list of great products that are tried and true.
- Ultra® Leather Cleaner & Conditioner Spray
- Belvoir Leather Tack Cleaner Spray
- Effax Leather-Combi
- TLC Saddle Soap & Conditioner
- Ultra® Leather Conditioner
- Passier® Lederbalsam Leather Conditioner
- Fiebing’s 100% Pure Neatsfoot Oil
- Goddard’s Silver Polish
- Ultra® Bit Cleaner and Freshener
- Goddard’s Silver Polishing Cloth
- Schneiders® Small Tack Sponge
- Ultra® Whitening Spray for Wraps and Saddle Pads
This non-darkening, one-step leather cleaner and conditioner is safe for light-colored tack and leather goods. The spray-on formula cleans away dust, dirt, and debris while penetrating deep into the fibers to condition and protect the integrity and flexibility of the leather. This cleaner and conditioner is pH balanced, helps repel water, prevents mold/mildew, and leaves no oily residue behind. Use on all your horse equipment, leather shoes, boots, belts, purses, furniture, and auto interiors. Great to use on older dry leather as this formula helps restore the moisture balance to increase the suppleness of the leather.
Want to buy a separate conditioner but want a great cleaner? This cleaner easily eliminates grease, sweat, and dirt with a simple wipe; no more scrubbing! Belvoir Leather Tack Cleaner won’t rot stitching or overdry leather, either. It’s also great for synthetic leather, making it a versatile cleaner before using conditioning soap or oil.
Rub it in with your sponge and watch the leather come alive. Cleaner and conditioner in one, this non-greasy cleaner absorbs quickly and penetrates each leather fiber for an effective clean. Effective on everything from boots to bridles, your tack will stay soft and supple for maximum strength and durability.
Looking for an all-natural leather cleaner with a pleasant scent? Look no further. Made with goat’s milk and other natural human-grade ingredients, this cleaner tackles tack and other leather goods without a tacky or greasy residue. It’s available in lavender or green apple scents.
Whether breaking in new or restoring old leather, Ultra Leather Conditioner is not greasy and won’t rub off on your clothes. Using a blend of petroleum jelly products and waxes, including beeswax, simply dab it on a cloth and rub it into leather. Your new tack will be supple, and the conditioner will breathe new life into the old: you’d never be able to guess how old your leather is after conditioning!
Passier’s conditioner will make the leather rich and soft for high-quality leather tack without being sticky or oily. Made without chemicals, rub Passier’s into your best leather goods, and your leather will be supple and water-resistant.
For over 100 years, this natural leather preservative and restorative repels water while protecting your leather from stiffening and cracking. Rub this oil into your leather tack using a sponge to keep it soft and pliable.
Keep your silver tack gleaming bright with a silver polish that’s been trusted on silver for over 140 years. Put Goddard’s on a cloth and rub your silver tack, instantly dissolving tarnish while leaving a tarnish-resistant barrier. Once applied, allow the polish to dry before buffing your silver to a high shine. It’s an easy and effective cleaner for all your silver.
Using a sponge or cloth and this bit cleaner, polish your bit until the grime disappears and the shine returns. Ultra’s bit cleaner is great for cleaning as it breaks up dried saliva and disinfects the bit. No harsh chemicals here; the bit cleaner is safe for your horse and provides a nice peppermint taste for your horse. As an added plus, the cleaner buffs your bits to a high shine, making them look new again.
Wipes have replaced nearly every cleaning spray and liquid on the market, and silver polish is no different. Easy to use and reusable, Goddard’s Silver Polish Cloth contains the same great cleaning, polishing, and anti-tarnishing agents the liquid does. It’s easy to use and keeps your silver equipment bright and beautiful.
No tack cleaning kit is complete without tack sponges. These sponges work with various soaps, oils, and conditioners and are hardy for multi-use. With large pores to absorb and retain tack-cleaning supplies, these sponges are essential for all your tack-cleaning. They are also great at getting into even the smallest spaces in your tack.
With this effective whitening spray, you can bring back the white on your pads, polos, horse boots, and more! The concentrated formula breaks down organic stains and odors, helping bring back a whiter look. You can use this along or in conjunction with other cleaning agents. Simply spray on directly, let sit for five minutes, scrub and rinse your garments before placing them in the washing machine.
Cleaning your tack regularly keeps it looking great and staying supple, prolonging its lifespan for years. There’s nothing worse than a squeaky saddle or grimy bits! Plus, when we are in the ring, that’s the time we want to look perfect from tack to tail. So tack cleaning suppliesshop at Schneiders and get what you need to keep your equipment in the best shape.
