[Milsurplus] Leather cleaning

Bruce MacMillan radio at telus.net
Sun Dec 27 11:52:27 EST 2009


I have a couple of aerial equipment bags used for the wireless set 19 
that needed some tlc so I took them to my local saddler/harness guy. The 
actual bags were not too bad and he said to periodically clean them with 
saddle soap. Google "saddle soap" and you'll see it's recommended for 
cleaning & preserving leather. The key word is preserving, not 
restoring. If the leather has rotted there's not much you can do. The 
straps for the buckles had become dry & brittle so the only thing he 
recommended was to apply a generous quantity of mink oil to provide some 
elasticity and hopefully prevent the strap from tearing off.

If the leather is treated properly it will last a long time. I have seen 
100 year old saddles that are in great shape.

Libraries that have old leather bound books have found that treatment 
didn't do anything to save them and often contributed to there demise. 
This is because many of the covers were vegetable-tanned and are 
susceptible to "red rot". This is a chemical decomposition.

Bruce   ve7mt

On 12/27/2009 8:15 AM, Michael Tauson wrote:
> On Thu, Dec 24, 2009 at 12:04 PM, Hue Miller<kargo_cult at msn.com>  wrote:
>    
>> Not painting, but dealing with aged leather:  I had been reading and asking
>> questions about leather treatments, with an idea to do some treatment to BG-71
>> p/o SCR-194/195 aka BC-222/322. And also a Japanese backpack battery bag -
>> in both cases, very dried out and cracked leather.  However, a couple timely
>> recent articles in "Military Trader" disuaded me entirely. It seems that ANY leather
>> treatment in the long run will degrade the leather. So I suppose some of these
>> items must remain as 'display only, as-is' status. FYI, this advice was supported
>> by professional conservators.
>>      
>
> It was maintained through periodic cleaning and
> waterproofing, a practice I have no doubt the current owner has
> continued.
>
> For dried out and/or cracked leather, I heartily agree that no attempt
> at cleaning,or using should be made.  On the other hand, leather that
> is still soft and supple is still "alive", as one boot maker I knew
> called it, and can still be treated and handled safely.  The leather I
> want to treat is most decidedly still quite alive.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Michael, WH7HG
>    


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