Preservative soaked holster restoration!!
 

I recently picked up a real nice P.38 black pebble finish soft shell holster...BUT, it is soaked with preservative, and I mean soaked!! Can this be removed with out damage to the holster..? any tricks...? Thanks for any and all ideas! til...later...GT <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" />

G.T. I have had some luck with placing the holster in a bucket and filling it inside and out with unscented cat litter. Leave it for a month or so mix it up and see if it needs another month. There could be other substances out there that would absorb oils or solvents a little better but I am not sure what. After the cat litter bath I hose it off with compressed air. I don't believe it will get it all out but it is a gentle way to try and get some of it off. Jerry Burney

Thanks Jerry! Sounds like a plan! I'll give it a try and let you know the results!! Thanks! Til...lat....GT

Application of liberal amounts of powdered spot remover will also work on occasion, but in general, if the leather has turned mushy, the fibers have been broken down and, unlike a living thing, leather does not heal.
Tom A.

Cat litter is a quite good idea! But negver heared about powdered spot remover! So another reason to belive that Germany is still living in stonage!

Hi to all! The stuff I found to try is called "Spill Magic" floor cleaner... it says, that other then being absorbant, it is totally safe on all surfaces...we shall see! The ingredients are: Amorphous aluminum silicate....
I'll try this first... see you all in about a month! till..later...GT

G.T. You might also consider common silica sand. It is used in dried flower applications. Extremely cheap. Jerry Burney

GT "amorphous aluminum silicate" is high grade clay, same as the kitty litter without the additives (or were you using fresh kitty litter?) Clay is pretty inert although slightly base in solution. I have not tried it, but it should work provided you do not leave it for a couple of weeks without changing the clay.

Kind regards, heinz

Hi Heinz! I did not try the clay first, as I picked up the "amor. alum. silicate" cheap and decided to kick it up a notch! The fresh kitty litter question did make me smile, as I guess there would be many different grades of fresh concerning that product! I packed the holster full and sealed it in a zip lock bag, in a couple of weeks, I'll rotate the mix, and at that time, we will see if we need to take another route! Thanks Heinz, for the tip! Stay tuned! till...later...GT

Hi to all! Here's where we stand so far! I removed the holster from the mix today... and I just about fainted! It looked like hell..... but, I was not to be denied...so,I wiped off as much of the matted powder as I could with a slightly damp cloth... and, reconsidered my efforts so far.... The holster actually looked pretty good after the clean up... One thing I noticed, is that the holster weighted about half as much as it did before the treatment ... I really think I am gaining on the problem....back into the mix it went!! <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" /> ...for another two weeks! I'll let you know the results as they become available.... but for now.. I think the absorbant idea has quite a bit of promise! till...later...GT