Product Review – Leather Honey Conditioner

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.

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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.

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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.”

After a coat of conditoner
After a coat of conditioner

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?

Next day straight off the rack
Next day straight off the rack

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

  1. 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!

  2. 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!

  3. 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.

  4. 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 🙂

  5. 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.;)

  6. 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 🙂

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