
Product Review – Leather Honey Conditioner
A while ago, I was contacted by the nice folks at Leather Honey to see if I could review their leather cleaner and conditioner. It took me a while due to lack of barn time and general moping about the condition of my horse.
Over the three day weekend I put on my big girl pants and stopped pouting, so I have part of the Leather Honey review for you! I received both Leather Honey Conditioner and Leather Honey Cleaner to try, but since I need to dilute the cleaner and didn’t have an extra spray bottle on hand today I will just talk about the conditioner.
A little background on my saddle first, because it applies here. It’s a brand new saddle that I got in March, and I’ve had a hell of a time conditioning it. Every single product I’ve loved in the past (Passier Lederbalsam, Higher Standards) made this saddle so squeaky. I mean so squeaky that we had to baby wipe down my boots and breeches at a horse show so I wouldn’t be heard across the ring squeaky. By the time I had resorted to just drenching the thing in olive oil, I was told that since I had already put a conditioner on it… I couldn’t just oil it anymore. So I was very mature and just ignored the thing entirely.
Smart, right?
It got very dry, and started showing very bad rubs from my legs.
In comes the Leather Honey Conditioner. The directions are to apply a coat of the conditioner (after cleaning, which I admit I did not do since the leather is so new and not very dirty), let it soak in for several hours, and then wipe off any residue. I put a coat of the conditioner, which is very thick and sticky. I quickly realized why they called it Leather Honey, because the consistency is exactly the same as honey.
I used the cloths they sent, and found to get the most bang for a quarter sized amount I really had to use some elbow grease and massage it into the leather. It’s so thick! I coated my saddle, and full honesty – was prepared to hate it the next day. Yes, it did darken the rub spots and give the thing a nice shine overall, but I thought “Oh this is going to be so squeaky and sticky and awful tomorrow.”

The next day I went to get my saddle, and the conditioner had completely soaked in overnight. There was no stickiness anywhere, and no sign that it had been conditioned minus a nice moisture to my leather. Oooo, promising, I thought.
The true test would be riding though – would it squeak?

And… it didn’t! There was a slight, slight chuff (I wouldn’t even call it a squeak) at first, but the saddle was virtually silent. It didn’t feel sticky, just felt nice and saddle like. After my ride, I immediately thoroughly soaked it in more Leather Honey Conditioner.
Though I had not heard of this conditioner before and was prepared not to like it, I have to say I really thought the Leather Honey did a nice job on my saddle where other brands had failed. Maybe it’s great for new leather? Maybe it’s great in general? I am going to try it on a few more items once I review the cleaner as well (sometime this week) and will touch back for a report on how it works with my boots, chaps, and strap goods… but really I was quite pleased with how it worked on my saddle.
Plus if you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can pick Leather Honey up with free 2 day shipping off of Amazon… so hard to say no! I think the price is pretty fair, once you realize that you need to really work to have a little bit of the honey go a long way on your saddle.
15 thoughts on “Product Review – Leather Honey Conditioner”
Ooh…I need to stock up on oil/conditioner right now because I’m almost out. Maybe I’ll try it!
Oh fun! I hadn’t heard of it either but seems to do the trick for you!
They contacted me earlier this year but I wasn’t sure I was interested. I have some on the way to review though. Glad it reduced the noise!
Wow. What a difference in that after shot. I’m very impressed
I too have new saddle leather woes- not so much of the squeaky sort, just the kind of not-yet-loved feeling that unused leather can sometimes have. Maybe I will have to invest in some honey to sweeten it up!
Never heard of this stuff, but it looks interesting!
Oooh. This looks promising! And on Amazon – that is a BIG plus! I will have to try this!
Interesting! I’m always on the hunt for new leather products. I might have to give it a whirl.
I have yet to try it but I know the folks on the one driving horse forum are always going on about how great it is, one coat and it’s good to go. Sounds like I need to get some for my tack.
No matter what I put on it, my saddle always seems dry and never gets that totally buttery, broken in feel. It’s good leather and plenty used enough, so this is really frustrating. I might have to try this 🙂
It sounds really promising!
I’m definitely going to try this out! My old cutting saddle squeaks like crazy. I’ve tried multiple products, from oiling it every night to applying a dressing. Does it say if it will work on rough out? I of course had to go but the saddle that is nearly impossible to find cleaner for.;)
Sounds amazing!
Oh might have to try this!!
Someone came into the Farm House the other day asking for this stuff!!!! I had no idea what he was talking about and now I know!!!! Must try some and add to my already embarrassing amount of wonderful leather products 🙂