Originally Posted by
sonatageek
I have a very dried out old Brooks that I have been on the fence about how much oil it should get. It is dry enough that it is not use-able as is -- I picked up a bottle of Lexol from a saddle (horse) shop.
But again Lexol is an oil that if used to much either all at once or over a period of time will destroy a Brooks. Horse saddles are different the bike saddles in that horse saddles are very thick leather, and horse saddles are not suspended like a bike saddle. Oil will cause a bike saddle to sag prematurely. I understand you had a dried out saddle and really the oil was probably good for it initially if applied very sparingly, but now that you have done that don't use it again.
For you newer Brooks owner follow the instructions that came with the saddle, trying anything else will void your warranty. Brooks has been making these saddles for over 100 years and they know how to treat them to make them last 20+ years, doing something else because some "knowledgeable" friend, or forum member, or LBS mechanic, or web site says it's ok will only give you problems down the road.
I have treated my Brooks saddle Proofide as per their instructions and then I treated it with Kiwi neutral paste wax not per their instuctions. But wax (which is the contents of Proofide) will not soften the leather only protects it from elements better then Proofide alone. But I also ride with a saddle cover if rain is forcasted. The shoe wax makes water bead up better then Proofide I feel, so I tend that direction, but again using shoe wax might void the warranty? even though I'm not using oil, not sure, but neither of my Brooks are no longer under warranty anyways.