Pecards Alternative...?

[Micawber]

This has been done to death umpteen times before.

I have horses, big ones that require a lot of pricey leather stuffs to enable them to work for us. This has to be kept in good condition in order not only look good but also remain functional and above all SAFE. On the shelves in out in our tack / harness / leather reviving room [where I treat any leather gear that requires it] can be found the following:

Saddle soap. Used sparingly.

Bars of glycerine rubbing into leather after saddle soap.

Neatsfoot. Used sparingly.

Hooper's 1882 / Abbey 1982 saddle food. This was the go to years ago and is still used in the trade. Evil smelling stuff made from animal by products but boy does it keep leather in good nick. Needs using in the warm and requires a good buffing once it's soaked in. I have used it on old, stiff garment leather in the past, it works but it's not the sort of stuff you would use on a jacket then immediately jump into your Porsche with white hide seats. Needs slightly damp leather, warmth and a strong arm to apply. {Anyone in the UK who has 10 minutes to spare might find the Abbey catalogue of leather supplies, tools, threads etc etc of interest].

Oakwood Leather Conditioner. Marvellous stuff. My go-to product for leather jackets too. Lovely.

Connolly Hide Food. Used on nice hides and quality car trim - fancy saddles and jackets too.

Lincoln Leather Dressing. As above.

Ko Cho Line. We use that on working harness that sees a lot of wet use. Red sticky goo that needs to be applied sparingly and in the warm. Been used on original flight jackets / helmets / gloves that were still in use too but oh so sparingly and always in the warm.

Also out there is Renapaur, Gliptone, petroleum jelly / Vaseline, Pecards and a few homebrew concoctions. They will all do the job on leather jackets etc but my personal favourites are the Oakwood products, especially their conditioner http://www.oakwoodeurope.co.uk/

 

[B-Man2]

You can’t get any better information than from a person who uses a product daily to maintain his costly leather working equipment.
Thanks Steve!

 

[jeremiah]

I have seen neatsfoot abuse which causes mold to grow very readily on saddles. I have had to strip them down and try and salvage them. So definitely as I said and Steve has, conservatively and sparingly and any other adjective which denotes very little goes a long way.

 

[Garylafortuna]

Renapur with flying colors. I took Jay's heads up and used it with excellent results on two recently acquired fifty plus year old moto jackets, one horse (I think), and one goat. The balsam was applied one panel at a time using a hair drier at a discreet distance just enough to melt the conditioner, then vigorously rubbing it into the leather wearing nitrile gloves. Using this method the jackets were wearable in a couple of days with little or no residue. One thing sure about Renapur over Pecards is the subtle scent of exotic spice which will wildly attract members of the opposite sex. Did you experience this extraordinary phenomenon Jay?

 

[jeremiah]

It’s funny reading all these opinions on what works best. It’s like beard oils and beard balm. It boils down to preference but none of it is necessary. Only leather in a museum or that which gets wet continuously like work boots need looking after and even then it isn’t necessary to do often.

 

[SteveN]

Just wondering here: how do you know when a jacket is dry enough to need treatment? Are there signs that can be observed, or is it done by 'feel'?