Bickmore Saddle Soap Plus - 6.5oz - Leather Cleaner & Conditioner With Lanolin Review (2026)

Who this saddle soap fits

This tin fits owners of horse tack, leather boots and shoes, or other outdoor leather goods like baseball gloves who want a traditional cleaning and light conditioning step in one product. Bickmore positions the Plus formula around added lanolin and neatsfoot oil on top of its base glycerin soap, aiming to moisturize while it cleans rather than leaving leather stripped and dry the way some straight cleaning soaps can. The 6.5 ounce tin is compact enough to keep in a tack box or a boot care kit without taking up much space. It suits routine upkeep on smooth finished leather more than a deep restoration job on leather that has already dried out or cracked.

What is in the formula

According to Bickmore, this Saddle Soap Plus tin is built on a glycerin soap base with lanolin and neatsfoot oil added for extra moisturizing on top of the soap's cleaning action. The brand describes it as suited for cleaning horse tack, leather boots, leather shoes and other outdoor leather products such as baseball gloves. Bickmore recommends checking colorfastness on a hidden area before full use, since any saddle soap can affect finish or color on certain leathers. The company also advises following up with a separate leather conditioner such as Bick 4 once the soap has been fully removed, treating this tin as a cleaning step rather than a complete one-product regimen.

How to apply it correctly

Bickmore's directions call for a clean, slightly damp napped cloth rather than a sponge, worked into a lather directly on the soap before rubbing it over soiled areas of the leather. Excess soap should be removed with a separate damp cloth, and the leather should be allowed to air dry fully afterward rather than being wiped down again while still wet. Skipping the wipe-down step can leave a soap film on the surface that attracts dust or feels tacky once dry. This is a manual, cloth-and-lather process better suited to someone comfortable doing periodic tack or boot maintenance than someone looking for a spray-and-wipe product.

Where this soap is not suitable

Bickmore is explicit that this product should not be used on suede, rough-out or napped leathers, since a wet lather and rubbing motion can crush or discolor a napped surface in ways that are difficult to reverse. It is meant for smooth, finished leather such as saddle skirts, boot uppers and belt leather rather than textured hides. Some light colored leathers can also darken slightly after a saddle soap treatment, which is worth testing on an inconspicuous spot first. Anyone working primarily with suede boots or nubuck bags should look at a dedicated suede cleaner instead of a traditional glycerin saddle soap like this one.

How it compares in this guide

Among the cleaners in this guide, Bick 4, a two-sponge Lexol kit, Chemical Guys and a bar of Fiebing's Glycerine Saddle Soap all score a bit higher, generally because they pair cleaning with a built-in conditioning step or a no-darken formula claim. This tin scores just above a Lexol sponge kit and just above a two pack of Fiebing's yellow saddle soap, sitting in the middle of the pack as a classic, no-frills tack cleaner. For someone who already trusts saddle soap as a category and wants the lanolin boost, this tin is a reasonable pick, though it asks for more manual effort than a spray cleaner.

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