Sterling Essentials has been a staple in my tack box for YEARS. It does such an incredible job with getting the gunk off of leather…and man…do I test it. I regularly go weeks without cleaning my boots and they get REALLY mucky…and I literally spray this stuff on…leave it for a minute…spray my sponge and go in and scrub. It takes little effort to remove really baked in dirt. Nothing has ever cleaned my leather better. If you want to check out my old review from almost 6 years ago…here it is. Nothing has changed. I love the stuff. For sure I use some conditioners at times as this doesn’t do that part of the job…but it certainly cleans like you would really want something to clean.
The product has changed just a touch over the years with an effort to sustainability. She has gone from selling it only by the bottle…to her adding in a refill bag with double the product…to now offering Sparkle. When I saw it posted on IG, I was like “please send me a bag Teal! I must try it!” And thank you to her for sending along a bag for me to try and review. What is Sparkle? Well it’s the same product…only without the water. What does this do? For one is ensures shelf stability for a long time…no wasted product from it going bad due to water. Secondly…it vastly decreased the price and footprint to ship the product by reducing the weight to almost nothing. Thirdly…the packaging is compost-able! Literally…the greenest leather cleaner you’re going to find. Add your own water once it arrives…and it fizzes away into the the leather cleaner you know and love.
So Sparkle is actually also a SUPER value. It’s only $15.99. The original 16 oz bottle is $20.99. The refill bottle runs at $34.99. So it is much cheaper than buying either the original or the refill package per ounce of product it produces.
I personally used distilled water to mix as I tend to venture towards safety and avoiding any minerals, chemicals, or other weirdness that might come in my tap water, but you can certainly use tap water if that floats your boat. I always keep a bottle of distilled water on hand for various tasks.
This product is incredibly easy to use. To find the right amount of water, I poured the water into the 16 oz Sterling Essentials bottle to measure (leave space…maybe an inch down…not filled to the top). Then I took that and poured it into the mixture in the bag. It fized and bubbled and self-mixed itself (and smelled delightful as it was doing it). Once the bubbles stopped, I pushed the edges of the bag to gether to make a bit of a funnel and poured it in the old Sterling Essentials bottle.
Then I went to work cleaning. So the question of course is…does Sparkle clean as well as the original. Is something different now with the change?
I noticed no difference. It’s literally the same product. Same scent. Same texture. Same cleaning power. I was blown away and SO excited by her efforts to make her products better for the environment with no sacrifice on quality of product. I’m absolutely going to purchase Sparkle the next time over the regular bottle or refill. I can save on shipping, save on the purchase price, and feel good about not adding more garbage into the world. Thank you Sterling Essentials for really taking a big chance here to help make your company more sustainable for the planet. I love that!