One thing to add. If the sides of the saddle are spread, you can use cheap plastic large spring clamps to hold in the sides as the saddle dries. Wrap a cloth around the saddle to prevent the clamp from damaging the leather.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big SPring, Texas, USA
> From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] In Praise of Saddle-Soaking
\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 11:04 PM
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I've had several questions offlist about this. Tony
\r?\n> Colegrave, Mike Barry and the lads in/from UK are the real
\r?\n> experts, but here is what I have observed:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I used a cheap plastic bucket from Walmart and filled with
\r?\n> ordinary tap water, which in Big Spring, Texas tastes like
\r?\n> s**t, to totally submerge the saddle.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Soak overnight at minimum. Very dry saddles or thick
\r?\n> leather like old Brooks or old Ideale may take 2 or 3 days
\r?\n> to become wet and pliable.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Only slightly sagged saddles may return to shape on their
\r?\n> own. Otherwise once the leather is wet and pliable,
\r?\n> you can shape it with your fingers.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> It is reported that in extreme cases saddles can be stuffed
\r?\n> with newspaper and bound with toestraps etc to shape.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> While wet, you can clean with saddle sosp, rinse and soak
\r?\n> some more.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I have dried naturally, either in the sun or indoors.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Don't mess with tension until the saddle is dry, which may
\r?\n> take 2 or 3 days.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Reportedly some of the experts have in extreme cases
\r?\n> removed the tension bolt before soaking.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Discolored top can be addressed with shoe dye and maybe
\r?\n> shoe polish.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Regards,
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Jerry Moos
\r?\n> Big Spring, Texas, USA
\r?\n>
\r?\n> --- On Wed, 5/27/09, Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
\r?\n> wrote:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> > From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
\r?\n> > Subject: [CR] In Praise of Saddle-Soaking
\r?\n> > To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> > Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 8:57 PM
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > We had a brief discussion recently on the subject or
\r?\n> > soaking leather saddles overnight or even a couple of
\r?\n> days
\r?\n> > in a bucket of water to rejuvenate them. The idea
\r?\n> of
\r?\n> > soaking a saddle in a bucket of water had always
\r?\n> horrified
\r?\n> > me, as I suspect it does many on this side of the
\r?\n> Atlantic,
\r?\n> > although Tony Colegrave, perhaps the most prominant
\r?\n> CR
\r?\n> > expert on leather saddles, and Mike Barry, who grew up
\r?\n> in UK
\r?\n> > and also knows a thing or two about the subject, both
\r?\n> > testified to doing this rather routinely.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Reassured by exchanges on and off list with Tony, I
\r?\n> gave it
\r?\n> > a try. Initially I soaked the original B17 from my
\r?\n> > 1962 Schwinn Superior, with the cool older brass badge
\r?\n> and
\r?\n> > the '62 stamp on the cantle plate. It was badly
\r?\n> > cracked and sagged, and I made matters worse with
\r?\n> massive
\r?\n> > Proofhide application top and bottom before reading
\r?\n> Tony's
\r?\n> > advice advising against using Proofhide on the
\r?\n> > underside. This made it impossibly soft and I
\r?\n> feared
\r?\n> > it was ruined, so with nothing to lose I soaked it for
\r?\n> a
\r?\n> > couple of days.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > At the same time I soaked my very first Brooks saddle,
\r?\n> a
\r?\n> > Professional, an original purchase upgrade on my circa
\r?\n> 1973
\r?\n> > LeJeune. It got an intense breakin on the 1974
\r?\n> > Northeast Ohio Century, of which the first 50 miles
\r?\n> were in
\r?\n> > heavy rain. It had been on several other bikes over
\r?\n> the last
\r?\n> > 35 years, most recently my 1986 Peugeot PZ-10. It
\r?\n> had
\r?\n> > become dry, somewhat cracked and sagged on one side,
\r?\n> and I
\r?\n> > thought it had simply worn out. So again nothing to
\r?\n> > loose.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > After a couple of days of soaking, I was astounded
\r?\n> with the
\r?\n> > results. The Pro regained its shape and most small
\r?\n> > surface cracks were healed. It is now on the Romic
\r?\n> > tourer I'm commuting on this week, and it looks and
\r?\n> feels
\r?\n> > fine. May not be good for another 35 years, but it
\r?\n> will now
\r?\n> > probably far outlive me. With the B17, the cracked
\r?\n> top
\r?\n> > layer mostly flaked off in soaking. I applied black
\r?\n> > shoe dye to the topside to restore the color and
\r?\n> treated
\r?\n> > with Proofhide. Not exactly NOS, but the cool old
\r?\n> > badge and '62 stamp are desirable and it is back on
\r?\n> the 1962
\r?\n> > Superior and feels pretty good on test rides.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > This emboldened me to soak several other saddle, all
\r?\n> with
\r?\n> > great results:
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > A French "Club" brand saddle with badly spread side
\r?\n> now has
\r?\n> > excellent shape again.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > A Titanum frame Ideale 90 with a pronounced raised
\r?\n> ridge
\r?\n> > down the center has had the ridge eliminated.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > An Ideale model 59 with alloy frame, but with a lot
\r?\n> of
\r?\n> > surface cracking and discoloration had the cracks
\r?\n> mostly
\r?\n> > healed and discloration addressed with shoe dye.
\r?\n> List
\r?\n> > member Dave Abraham very recently fetched $455 on eBay
\r?\n> for a
\r?\n> > used and somewhat scuffed mod 59, which probably
\r?\n> exceeded
\r?\n> > Dave's expectations, so rejuvenating my mod 59 was
\r?\n> well
\r?\n> > worth the effort.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > With these spectacular results, I even soaked two
\r?\n> nearly
\r?\n> > new saddles, a Swift maybe 6 or 7 years old but with
\r?\n> only
\r?\n> > perhaps 500 km of use and a Swallow that was NOS 400
\r?\n> km and
\r?\n> > a few months ago. Both had developed some lines and
\r?\n> a
\r?\n> > slight sag to one side. Soaking corrected the shape
\r?\n> of
\r?\n> > each, which they hopefully will now hold longer. I
\r?\n> > even soaked an NOS Ideale 87, which I will use to
\r?\n> replace my
\r?\n> > 1973 Brooks Pro on the PZ-10, but which had been
\r?\n> sitting in
\r?\n> > the parts bin and drying out for years and probably
\r?\n> > decades.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Currently soaking an old Brooks Pro, probably 60's or
\r?\n> early
\r?\n> > 70's, that I long ago had given up for dead. But
\r?\n> after
\r?\n> > two days in the bucket it looks pretty darned good.
\r?\n> > BTW I note that the older Brooks saddles and Ideale
\r?\n> saddles,
\r?\n> > especially older models, seem to use thicker leather
\r?\n> that
\r?\n> > takes longer to thoroughly wet.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > I think all of this points out to me what Tony
\r?\n> Colegrave
\r?\n> > and many other leather saddle experts in UK and
\r?\n> elsewhere
\r?\n> > have long understood. Namely, that leather, unlike
\r?\n> the
\r?\n> > modern plastic stuff, is an organic material, and
\r?\n> that
\r?\n> > maintaining proper moisture is the key to
\r?\n> performance.
\r?\n> > In a wet climate like England, this may occasionally
\r?\n> require
\r?\n> > soaking used saddles, but in a desert climate like
\r?\n> here in
\r?\n> > West Texas, one may have to soak saddles more often or
\r?\n> even
\r?\n> > soak an NOS saddle that has sat for years in the parts
\r?\n> bin.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Regards,
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Jerry Moos
\r?\n> > Big Spring, Texas, USA