Originally Posted by onbike 1939

Do you believe everything you read? Proofide will do nothing to speed up the time the saddle conforms to your body. This is marketing bull****. It is in the same category as the retro cardboard box and old-time lettering. Proofide does not penetrate the top surface at all as it is basically a wax. The advice given to apply Proofide to the bottom of the saddle is recent and was only introduced by the new owners in order to pacify American owners who tend to ride without mudguards.
There is too much rubbish spoken about Brooks saddles and much of it by people with little knowledge of them.

Fact: They are made of LEATHER. Not magical Brooks leather but just leather and all the principles concerning leather apply.
Fact: The leather of the saddle is hard because the natural oils have been leached from the leather by the forming process. This means that the internal fibres are not lubricated enough to allow them to slide over one another and so you have a hard saddle. Brooks tells you not to use any substance in order to soften the leather as they rely on your sit-bones breaking the fibres in order to make the indentations required.
Fact: If you have your saddle long enough what happens is that the leather, lacking oils, will begin to crumble and crack and will eventually end up as dust. This does take a long time (20-30 years but will happen.)
As with all leather, wetting it will allow it to become pliable and take a shape. When dry, it is as hard as it ever was. So, unless you enjoy a certain amount of discomfort, it makes sense to use this fact and make the indentations required for your sit-bones while the saddle is wet (the rear part only). This can be done by riding it for a period until the shape is present, or by creating them by other means (even thumb pressure can do it on the B17 Special which has thinner leather than the Pro. If the saddle is allowed to dry, it then becomes just a hard as before.