Sustainability in perfect exclusivity

production of SHC unique pieces

In times when the topic of "sustainability" is becoming increasingly important, we would also like to make our contribution.

This means that we not only work with natural raw materials, but in our new SHC project ( S alty H orse C ollection ) we also use leather from worn-out riding saddles that are no longer of any use.

Since each saddle is unique due to years of use and the resulting patina, the products we make from it are also absolutely unique.

Making a handbag from smooth leather is laborious enough, but making a handbag from a used saddle is incredibly labor-intensive.

To give you an insight into our work, we would like to present the individual steps below:

1 . Step - Finding the saddle:

A suitable saddle must be found.

The saddle should not be too worn and should have some larger surfaces that can be used.

Since a saddle consists of many small parts, it is understandable that particularly large bags cannot be made from them.

The leather was originally stretched over a basic shape by the saddler, which resulted in many areas that were deformed and no longer formed a flat surface.

While searching for suitable saddles, we noticed how differently people care for saddle leather. We discovered saddles that had obviously rarely or never come into contact with saddle grease and were therefore very brittle and hard, and we got saddles that were around 30 years old, had been well cared for and whose leather felt fantastically soft and smooth.

Step 2 - Cleaning:

One job that we had actually underestimated was taking the saddles apart. Every saddlery assembles its saddles in a different way and so taking each saddle apart into its individual parts is an individual matter.

You have to carefully undo the seams and remove the rivets without damaging the leather. This definitely requires a delicate touch and patience.

Once you have the individual parts, you realize that there are many small parts and that it is therefore not possible to make larger accessories with them. Some parts are no longer of a quality that allows for further processing.

Once you have finally decided which leather parts you want to continue working with, they are cleaned thoroughly with saddler's soap. Some dirt has also settled in the seam holes over the years, so you have to carefully clean them one by one with a needle. Since the leather is often very hard and possibly brittle because it has not been cared for for a long time, you have to work very carefully so as not to damage it.

Step 3 - Deep care:

Once the individual leather pieces have been cleaned, they are softened again in a steam oven. The steam spreads evenly over the surface of the leather and is absorbed evenly. This restores the moisture content in the leather. We put particularly dry pieces in a tub of special oil for a few days so that they absorb the oil. They are then hung up for a few days to drip dry. They are then laid out on absorbent material again so that they do not become greasy later.

Once they have completed this whole procedure, the leather pieces are finally polished with a care balm containing beeswax. Beeswax impregnates the leather and forms a protective barrier against dust and other contaminants.

In the photo you can see a before and after comparison of two pieces of the same saddle. The leather is now soft and flexible again, so that it can be easily processed further.

Here, too, you will notice that due to the deformation of the saddle, not all pieces can be used for every purpose.

4th step - Production:

Once you have the processed leather, you can see what can be made from which piece of leather. A saddle requires a lot of different thicknesses of leather. For this reason, not all of them are suitable for the same accessories, because some are simply too rigid and too thick.

For example, we made a card case with neon yellow stitching from the refurbished piece shown above. The leather on this case feels fantastically soft and pleasant to the touch, so it can be used for many years to come.

As you can see, an enormous amount of work and time goes into the accessories from the SHC - Salty Horse Collection , but it is worth it when you consider the great, sustainably produced items that result from them.

Each of the products is lovingly crafted and is unique, but if YOU have special requests, we will be happy to implement them (if the appropriate material is in stock) and then you will have your very own unique piece. We thank you for your interest in our work and look forward to your project.

Please feel free to take a look here .