How to Grease Leather Gear
The best way to grease your leather saddle bags, holsters, horse tack and biker gear is not to grease it at all. Greasing leather had a long and glorious tradition in the military and among cowhands, but it ended around WWI. Although grease is a superior lubricant for industrial machinery, it rots such organic materials as rubber and leather. Trail riders and bikers can create the same feel and protection of greased leather using organic products such as mink oil and beeswax.
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Things You'll Need
- Leather deglazer or lacquer thinner
- Saddle soap
- Mink oil
- Old toothbrush
- Leather conditioner, beeswax-based
Instructions
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1
Deglaze the item, if it has a lacquered or shiny finish, by soaking a soft cloth or cotton ball with leather deglazer, or a one-to-one solution of water and lacquer thinner, then rubbing it lightly over the surface. By removing this finish, you have made the leather more receptive to oil or wax.
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2
Clean the item using a tin of saddle soap. Use cake-based saddle soap rather than glycerin-based soap; glycerin is a good leather cleaner, but the saddle soap that comes in tins includes waxes and oils which will create that well-greased feel.
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Soap the item well, using soft, clean cloths, paying particular attention to the seams.
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4
Allow the item to dry completely. It should appear dull, without much of a shine, because you have prepared it to make way for oil and wax.
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Rub the leather down with mink oil. Use a soft, white cloth or a shoe dauber to rub the entire leather surface with mink oil. You will achieve that well-greased feel best with the type of mink oil meant for shoes, which comes in tins.
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Work the mink oil into any seams and stitching with an old toothbrush.
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Splash some water over the item: the water should bead up completely. At this point, the item should have a slightly tacky, oily feel.
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Apply a beeswax-based leather conditioner if the item is not greasy enough to your liking. Beeswax is an excellent leather preservative, one that makers of fire helmets, hunting and sporting gear and Clark's Shoes have all used to preserve leather.
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Soften the beeswax-based conditioner over a hotplate set on low or on the warming plate of a coffee maker. Rub the conditioner over the leather item (paying particular attention to the seams) using a soft cloth or shoe dauber.
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10
Test your item with a spray of water. Water should bead up and run off at every inch of the surface.
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Tips & Warnings
Use mink oil, periodically, to restore the well-greased feel to your gear and to protect it against moisture.
