FA+
Shop
Leather Harness Maintenance
13 years ago
General
Clean Leather – Murphy’s Oil Soap, Baking Soda or Mr. Clean
Mix three parts warm water with one part of one of the above cleaning solutions. Clean entire plain leather part of the harness with a toothbrush (see below for cleaning patent leather and metal). Dismantle and unbuckle each piece of the harness as you go. Where dirt has built up on the underside of the harness, use a gentle scrub pad to remove the dirt. Wipe down the buckles with a soft rag, removing the green “gunk” that accumulates where the metal meets the leather. Check for excessive wear, broken keepers, cracked leather, bent buckle tongues, broken stitching and worn buckles. Get any broken parts fixed.
Condition the Leather – Product that lets the leather breathe, Lexol, Stubben Hamanol, etc.
No Neatsfoot or linseed oil that will rot the stitching.
Leather needs to be “fed” to keep the moisture and avoid cracking. Good conditioned leather should be supple. Apply the conditioner when the harness is slightly damp, as the pores are open and the conditioner can be absorbed fully. Depending upon conditions of storage, harness should be conditioned at least once a year. (ironically, water will “dry out” the leather) If you have conditioned your harness, it may be necessary to wait for the conditioner to penetrate before you can go on to the next step of polishing the leather.
Polish the Leather – Kiwi Shoe Polish paste in color of harness
Using a small brush or rag, dip into the shoe polish sparingly and then dip the brush/rag and the polish in cold water before applying it to the leather. Allow the paste to dry. Using a soft rag or a shoeshine brush, buff the leather until it shines
Polish the Metal – Flitz, or your choice of metal polish. Paste tends to work better.
Follow the directions on the package. Avoid getting the polish on the leather. Well-polished brass should be bright, and have more “gleam” than “gold tones”. Plan on lots of time to do this step, because it will take time to do well! Brass will tarnish in twelve hours, so it needs to be polished again (at least gone over with a cloth). Stainless or chrome-plated harness needs to be polished with a silver or metal polish.
Clean Patent Leather – Pledge or Endust wipes or on a cloth. No Armor All or Vaseline. Spray the dusting spray on the cloth and immediately apply it to the patent leather.
Mix three parts warm water with one part of one of the above cleaning solutions. Clean entire plain leather part of the harness with a toothbrush (see below for cleaning patent leather and metal). Dismantle and unbuckle each piece of the harness as you go. Where dirt has built up on the underside of the harness, use a gentle scrub pad to remove the dirt. Wipe down the buckles with a soft rag, removing the green “gunk” that accumulates where the metal meets the leather. Check for excessive wear, broken keepers, cracked leather, bent buckle tongues, broken stitching and worn buckles. Get any broken parts fixed.
Condition the Leather – Product that lets the leather breathe, Lexol, Stubben Hamanol, etc.
No Neatsfoot or linseed oil that will rot the stitching.
Leather needs to be “fed” to keep the moisture and avoid cracking. Good conditioned leather should be supple. Apply the conditioner when the harness is slightly damp, as the pores are open and the conditioner can be absorbed fully. Depending upon conditions of storage, harness should be conditioned at least once a year. (ironically, water will “dry out” the leather) If you have conditioned your harness, it may be necessary to wait for the conditioner to penetrate before you can go on to the next step of polishing the leather.
Polish the Leather – Kiwi Shoe Polish paste in color of harness
Using a small brush or rag, dip into the shoe polish sparingly and then dip the brush/rag and the polish in cold water before applying it to the leather. Allow the paste to dry. Using a soft rag or a shoeshine brush, buff the leather until it shines
Polish the Metal – Flitz, or your choice of metal polish. Paste tends to work better.
Follow the directions on the package. Avoid getting the polish on the leather. Well-polished brass should be bright, and have more “gleam” than “gold tones”. Plan on lots of time to do this step, because it will take time to do well! Brass will tarnish in twelve hours, so it needs to be polished again (at least gone over with a cloth). Stainless or chrome-plated harness needs to be polished with a silver or metal polish.
Clean Patent Leather – Pledge or Endust wipes or on a cloth. No Armor All or Vaseline. Spray the dusting spray on the cloth and immediately apply it to the patent leather.
Mr.SleepyPuppy
~mr.sleepypuppy
YAY! Thank you so much for posting this! I've refurbished a few harnesses, head halters, and saddles so I'm used doing all of this. But on the other hand I've seen several dozen harnesses, restraints, etc. RUINED by people using things like linseed oil or armor all on them (Frankly it breaks my heart to see good leather tortured like that)
