"...and your father's still perfecting ways of making sealing wax" The Rolling Stones
Those who have been fortunate enough (...or would that be unfortunate enough) to have procured a vintage Ideale saddle in NOS state recently have likely had to deal with the congealed sealing wax problem - which will have bonded itself to the leather in near permanent fashion if said saddle was not stored properly. I have tried various solutions (...sorry, pun definitely intended) over the years to affect its thorough removal including rubbing alcohol (...maybe not the best option unless you follow along with something to re-moisturize the leather like saddle soap) and Hoppe's gun cleaning solvent (...which works rather well and has the added benefit of killing off any verdigris to be found around the copper rivets). But perhaps the easiest thing I have found do is to simply hand the saddle in question over to a local shoe repair professional that you trust, or better yet an equestrian saddle smith, and let THEM remove the solidified salve. That way, all you need do is shell out $10.00 to $15.00 USD or so to bring it home looking all shiny and new without having to spend any more of your time and/or monies affecting a homebrewed concoction that may or may not damage the saddle in the process of trying to excise that blasted wax.
Robert "trying to avoid that 19th Nervous Breakdown" Broderick ...the "Chronically Cloudy Clime" of Oregon Portland, USA
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of John Siemsen Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 6:17 PM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR] Ideale Saddle - NOS with goop?
I have an Ideale 90 saddle with alloy rails. I think it may be NOS, but it seems to have a layer of wax on it. Saw this ebay auction for a supposedly NOS saddle, the waxy stuff looks very similar to mine.
Auction number: 350279753991
So is this a protective treatment put on at the factory? If so, how does one remove it? Maybe mine is not NOS, but I'd sure like to get the goop off.
Any help appreciated.
John Siemsen
Portland, Oregon