Start with the question ‘why do I need to use a leather conditioner?’ The easiest way to answer that is to think of leather as a living thing. Like any living thing, leather needs a few basic needs tended to in order to stay alive and healthy. Regular care and maintenance will drastically improve the life and longevity of any leather product, and it’s actually super easy to to do.
Keep it clean
One of leather’s worst enemies is dirt. A common misconception is that leather can’t get wet. This isn’t true. Leather can and should get a little wet occasionally. Water is not your enemy here, but soap can be. The chemicals in most soaps can cause issues and mess with your leather’s pH balance over time. The more leather comes into contact with the oils from our skin and is exposed to the sun the faster the pH will shift. Wiping leather down with a damp cloth will remove dirt, foreign oils and help start the rehydration process. If your leather is particularly grimy using a mild leather soap can be helpful.
Keep it Fed
Starting out with clean leather and then adding a conditioning agent is going to be a recipe for success. Our Leather Conditioner is designed to feed, repair and protect your leather. Similar to how your skin will soak up lotion and moisturizer, leather hide will do the same thing. The main aim is to keep leather hydrated and fed. Clean and fed leather is less likely to crack or split which means it will last longer and be around for years to come.
Keep it protected
Our Leather Conditioner protects your leather in a couple of different ways. Firstly by actually feeding the leather and keeping it hydrated. The cocoa butter and sweet almond oil do a great job of that. The second way is through the natural anti-fungal properties of the cedar-wood oil. If there is bad stuff that’s gotten in, this will help keep things from getting out of control. The third way is through the power of beeswax. Beeswax acts as the defense shield for your leather - it seals the good stuff in and keeps the bad stuff out.
A note about suede
Unlike your typical tanned leather, we would NOT recommended using our Leather Conditioner for suede leather. Suede is simply the underside of an animal’s hide and it behaves a bit differently than tanned leather. Actually, we wouldn’t really recommend any leather products for suede. The best thing to do is use a light wire brush to remove dirt and grime if needed. But really, try not to let anyone step on them blue suede shoes.