My brother Jerry, lived near Lon Haldeman's wife Susan, before they were married, and she told us how Lon prepped the Brooks saddles he rode. It simply was to boil water, sit the saddle in it for about 15 minutes, remove from water, dry off water from saddle with a towel, let sit until good and dry before use. It worked really well on the Professional model way back then, however I did not find it necessary on the new B17 I just put on the touring rig.