# Using Olive Oil on a saddle



## mickeyandtwisty (Oct 31, 2016)

Hi, I was talking to a friend and I have a Prestige saddle. I have had it for about 5 months and only ever oiled the sides, Is there any point oiling it for a month now with olive oil?


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I've heard conflicting info on using Olive oil on saddles; some say it's cheap, organice and works well. others say never use any oil that is a food oil as it attracts rats . I think I would use a product specifically designed for leather. in the case of a very dried out saddle, PURE neatsfoot oil would be my choice. in the case of a saddle that is well oiled and has never been allowed to dry out, I would just clean it from time to time, top dress with saddle soap (glycerin), and if it feels dry, use Lexol. 


I don't know the answer, but I know that over oiling is usually more of a problem then under oiling. err on the side of 'less is more'.


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## kewpalace (Jul 17, 2013)

tinyliny said:


> I've heard conflicting info on using Olive oil on saddles; some say it's cheap, organic and works well. others say never use any oil that is a food oil as it attracts rats .


 I've heard this from someone who actually did it and their saddle did get gnawed on by rats. :? I have never used Olive Oil either, but am with tinyliny - I stick to oils that are designed for leather if I need to oil my saddle.




tinyliny said:


> err on the side of 'less is more'.


:iagree:


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Even if you don't have rats, olive oil gets sticky and attracts dirt. 

I use saddle soap for cleaning sweat and mud off, and a commercial leather conditioner every fourth cleaning or so. Right now I'm using Passier Lederbalsam, but there are many proprietary formulas. 

There are strong controversies around oiling your saddle at all, with anything, including neatsfoot. I'd do some research before using something that may not just be a mistake but be a hard one to correct.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

most quality English saddles will almost never need oiling. 

some Western saddles are made un-oiled, and need to be heavily oiled several times before using.

they can require so much oil that the actual weight of the saddle will go up several pounds.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

The man that made my saddle said that the best thing to use for oiling a saddle is pure neatsfoot oil. I asked him about passier lederbalsalm because I have it and he said that neatsfoot oil is better. He also cautioned to not oil it more than once a year if that. It still needs to be oiled every once in a while though because if you let it completely dry out it becomes dead. Most kinds of vegetable oils will become rancid. He also told me that wiping it down on a regular basis is enough and at most once a year wet it (not soaking) and use liquid laundry detergent to clean and rinse. He said laundry detergent is mild and softening. Let it dry (not in the sun) and then oil with neatsfoot.


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## mkmurphy81 (May 8, 2015)

I've used olive oil on a few old western saddles. These were old, very dry, and in rather poor condition. They were soaking up all the saddle soap and oil I could give them, so cheap oil was good. They seemed to turn out pretty well. They're in rat-proof storage right now (in a huge old walk-in refrigerator -- not turned on). I hope when I need them again, the smell of the olive oil will have worn off enough that they won't be extra appealing to rats.

I would not be brave enough to try olive oil on a nice saddle.


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## mickeyandtwisty (Oct 31, 2016)

Thanks! I use this oil on my bridle but I was hesitant about using it on my saddle, I have also been hesitant because I want it to last for years. I will only oil it for a week straight because I dont want to over oil it (please correct if wrong!) and then oil before shows and then occasionally when it gets dry.


Hydrophane oil, I use this. would it be ok to use on the seat as well as all over.


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## Tori Taylor (Oct 9, 2015)

Here we use coconut oil as that is all that is available. It seems to work well and we have not had nay problems but we are in a climate that half ot eh year is hot and dry and the other half of the year hot and humid. Before I moved here I always used neatsfoot oil


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

I have friend who uses olive oil in her saddle due to the leather being very light colored and not wanting to darken it. Works beautifully. She been using olive oil for about 7 years.

The saddle is kept indoors due to it being a very nice saddle.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

If it is really dry, I'll use pure Neatsfoot, followed a few days later by Passier Lederbalsalm. I know Bates specifically recommends using a product that includes some wax. One of the Bates I owned had been a store demo model, and it was dry as could be.

The saddle I had built for Mia was conditioned with a product similar to Passier Lederbalsalm. I was told it worked better than just oil. Not sure my saddle needs any wax - seems slick enough already:










My bridles get dirtier. I clean off any surface dirt with a damp cloth, and oil them about once a year. They are holding up.

I've also met people who swore by olive oil, but I haven't tried it. I still have plenty of Lederbalsalm left, and I bought the can 8 years ago...


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## HombresArablegacy (Oct 12, 2013)

Hmmm, olive oil + leather = a salad...... a rat salad.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I've used extra virgin olive oil for 25 years or so on western, english, polo saddles, halters, headstalls and harness. I also have pure neatsfoot at one place and some gear has had both.

I never thought about it being inexpensive, I just knew that either of those would work well.

I think my oldest saddle is about 23 years old and doing well.


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

bsms said:


> My bridles get dirtier. I clean off any surface dirt with a damp cloth, and oil them about once a year. They are holding up.


Same here....except I usually oil mine about twice a year....pure neatsfoot oil for me.


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## flaglermom (Jun 7, 2007)

I have started using olive oil on my tack and am hugely a fan. I even soak new pieces-headstalls, halters, etc in it for several days. They feel buttery soft and it keeps them beautiful. All I have to do is wipe them off once in a while.

IMO-if you have rats, they will chew on everything with or without olive oil.


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

Rats will chew on a saddle no matter what is conditioned with.

I borrowed a lovely saddle for years. Returned it when I moved away. 4+ year later borrowed it back. Rodents had had a hay day with it.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

The custom saddle lady I know says to think of it like skin- it is! So follow the routine you would when cleaning your own skin.

Makes sense to me.

I've never used olive oil. Guess I'm just not sure of the point.


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## Tack Collector (Nov 10, 2009)

I tried olive oil, but I thought it left leather looking salow color and dull and splotchy. People differ in opinion, but I tend to agree with the ones that thought olive oil could go rancid and impart a sour smell. I went back to using 100% neatsfoot and I prefer that. Shep's is the brand sold locally, so that's what I use. I think it has less odor than the Fiebing's. Just my opinion. But I didn't like the olive oil on tack. Olive oil is great for people's skin, though. It keeps my fingernails from splitting into layers and chipping off. I like cooking olive oil.


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## RMH (Jul 26, 2016)

Before show season I did a little research on saddle (western) cleaning and conditioning and came across a procedure used by some western saddle maker who recommended using olive oil followed by Skidmore's Leather Cream. To me it worked better than the glycerine based products I'd used before. I can't find the reference now but it was on the internet so it must be true.


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