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P5640blouson said:Lexol, in moderation, and no, I don't wait till it starts to dry or crack, because by then, the damage is already done...but for those who like the worn out look, you'll need to let it damage some before you dress it.
We need to make a distinction between leather that is dry and leather that is cracked. Leather that is dried out, and not cracked, will always come back with application of the proper conditioner. Leather that is cracked will never come back, irrespective of what is applied to it. At least that is my experience in twenty five years of working with, and conditioning, leather tack and saddles.
For cleaning tack, other than saddles, such as bridles and reins, I use a combination of Belvoir saddle soap and Lexol. This combination gets the sweat off and conditions the leather during the cleaning process. For saddles, I use a straight application of Belvoir saddle soap. Once or twice a year I will condition my saddles, that get the most use, with Devoucoux Belharra Leather Balsam on my Devoucoux saddle, as that is what was supplied with the saddle and what is recommended by Devoucoux. For my other saddles I use a German leather conditioner, Effax Lederbalsam. I also use Effax on my other tack when it starts to dry out. Easy to tell if the leather is getting dry by using the scientific "finger feel test." P5640blouson is right, we don't want to let the leather dry out, as cracking is the next step.
The contents of the various conditioners are similar, as might be expected. The Belharra contains beeswax and lanolin. The Effax contains lanolin, avocado oil and beeswax. And Obenauf's (used for boots) contains beeswax and propolis (a tree resin used by honeybees in their hives). These are three conditioners that are sitting in front of me as I just finished several reconditioning projects. There are other conditioners downstairs, but I don't have the time nor the inclination to tromp down there and have a look at the contents.
For the vintage leather jacket that is starting to get a bit dry, Pecard's is the choice of the leather experts on this, and other, forums. Of course Pecard's comes in many different types of applications. For our general purposes, the standard leather dressing (consistency of light grease) in the 16 oz. container is perhaps the place to start. I imagine the standard dressing is the same formulation as the antique leather dressing, but I don't know this for sure. In college I learned about "market segmentation," and I suppose the Pecard's marketing director took the same class.
In considering which cleaner/conditioner to use on our leather jackets, let's not forget that tack--saddles, bridles, reins, etc., boots and jackets are all different products, intended for different applications and certainly are all used differently. What works well on one, may not work quite as well on another.
Although some of this post has been a bit tangential, I hope parts of it have been helpful.