That is the basic principle espoused by Tony Colegrave, long time Brooks employee and consultant to the new Brooks owners. He believes that the underside of a leather saddle needs to breath and to be kept moist. As oils, including those in Proofide, block the pores in leather, just as they do in living skin, he advocates using Proofide and other products containing oils, whether natural or petroleum, on the topside only. (Actually petroleum is a nautural organic product, it's just that the animal died a few million years ago.)
In damp climates like England, just riding a saddle usually allows it to absorb enough moisture, but in desert climates like the West Texas one I just left a few months ago, one must moisten the underside. Tony advocates moistening the underside with just water, not any saddle treatment. When a saddle is severely dried out he advocates soaking it overnight in a bucket of water. This idea horrifies most Americans, but it seems to have long been accepted in UK. Mike Barry, who grew up in England, advocates this also.
After soaking a number of saddles, some seemingly beyond hope, in water overnight, then treating the topside only with Proofide, I've had amazingly good results. One of the few I failed to save was a B17 on which I had applied massive amounts of Proofide to the underside, before I became aware of Tony's advice to the contrary.
Tony does say that after soaking, one may want to clean the underside with saddle soap. Saddle soap is now available in a spray form, and I have used this on the underside of saddles.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
From: Dale B. Phelps <losgatos_dale@yahoo.com> Subject: [CR] Proofide AND Neatsfoot To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Tuesday, May 4, 2010, 12:55 AM
I use 'em both, neetsfoot (real stuff, not the petrol goo) on the underside of especially-dry saddles that I don't want to use a baseball bat on to soften, and proofide on the top surface to (in essence) waterproof and also to seal any cracking etc. You think Proofide soakes up fast into the non-finished (rough) leather? I just finished treating a Brooks Pro on a 72-ish PX10 that was so dry it soaked up almost 4 ounces of neetsfoot on the underside! Thing looks good after three thin coats of proofide applied with a full sun-drenched soak-it-in day between each.
Get the real neetsfoot at a tack shop or place like Murdochs. 40 years ago I'd get it at the drug store (after they checked to see if it was a controlled substance?!?!?!)
I forgot about snoseal. THAT is good stuff too.
One final caveat: I NEVER use proofide (or snoseal) on the UNDERSIDE of a saddle unless it is severely severely dry. Think I read nasty talk about that here. Neetsfoot works better and can be brushed on evenly and doesn't seal the leather (I hear that still allows it to "breathe"...how many other dead animal parts you know that need to "breathe"?)
Dale Phelps,
Montagna lunga scalatore Colorado USA