tack confessions and Higher Standards *Review and giveaway!*

I'll confess, I love cleaning tack but I wasn't always this way...

As a kid I used to lie about liking to clean tack so my riding instructor wouldn't make me clean all her filthy tack, the tack that got used daily but only cleaned twice a year by whiny and resentful 8 year olds wielding sponges, when all they wanted to do was pet ponies, ah pony camp, good times....

Anyway a couple months ago I came across this soap on the Chronicle of the Horse forum, the reviews were really favorable and I was almost out of soap and I thought it was neat to buy a handmade product.

The soap truly is excellent and has replaced all my other tack cleaning products. After Joe saw how great my saddle looked he begged me to clean his nasty work boots, that'll learn me, I shouldn't have shown off my fabulously clean tack. It smells really nice, like the way you would want bath soap to smell, not at all overpowering or chemically. Not only does it smell good but it cleans and conditions better than any other product I have tried. The balm is also fantastic, great for dry and abused leather.

So in honor of Joy's tenth(!) birthday I am doing a giveaway this month,  Simply leave a comment on this post about which soap you would like to try. On 3/10/2014 one randomly selected lucky person will win a thingy of soap (or conditioning Balm if you prefer, I'm cool like that)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/HigherStandardsFarm

http://www.higherstandardsleathercare.com/

I'm sure a "like" wouldn't go amiss here https://www.facebook.com/HIgherStandardsFarm

The review section

My usual tack is actually pretty clean right now (having effective and easy to use products does that) so for pictures I dug out a nasty old girth and some boots I forgot to clean at the end of Autumn.These products are simple and quick to use, the soap even dissolves those little dirt "jockeys" without a ton of scrubbing, which is remarkable and way cuts down on the time you have to spend cleaning tack. It's perfect for lazy people such as myself.

I used the Fox's Vanilla Lavender soap and just lightly moistened the sponge, wipe on soap, rub the leather a bit and wipe off with a clean slightly damp sponge. That is it! You can clean all the things! I like to melt the conditioning Balm in my hands and rub it in, it smells like cookies, makes my leather stuff look and feel gorgeous and I don't instantly want to wash my hands after.

Before

cleaning water, not coffee!

one boot cleaned, one to go

after cleaning

much nicer

 The only drawback to these products is my toddler likes the smell and tries to eat them, so tack cleaning has to be done after he goes to bed.