De-Stinking Leather

[John Sabato]

A non destructive method of attempting to de-stink this item would be to fill it with the kind of cat litter that includes baking soda and other odor deterents... then place it in a container of some kind (large zip lock bag maybe?) and then fill the container with the same material. It may even leech out some of the remaining chemicals.

Let it sit for a few weeks, and then remove it from the container... empty it... vacuum it with a soft brush type tool to knock loose the dust of the cat litter... and see if that helps. A high pressure air hose nozzle should dislodge any bits that remain.

...and my dear friend Tom... make sure that it is NEW cat litter, not something you have laying around

Whether it helps of not, you can still use the cat litter for its intended purpose....if your going to recycle it, make sure you de-stink the holster first... and then reuse the litter for your cat if you have one, or to soak up the oil drips in your garage or driveway from that cheap car that you drive (just kidding about the car Tom!)

[Ron Wood]

Not ever having tried to perform such an un-stinking operation I might guess that a combinaiton of Ed Tinker's and Jerry Burney's methods might work. The baking soda and charcoal both absorb odors, but I don't know if it is necessary to immerse the case in either. Putting a layer of either or both in the bottom of a plastic container and then setting the case on top of a grid over the baking soda/charcoal and leaving it in the sealed container until the stink goes away might do the job. Certainly would make cleanup a lot easier.

[Navy]

Thanks Guys,

Ron, your approach seems the most reasonable. I got a reply from the maker who sez the smell will disappear in 3 months!!

Again, I am made aware: Third world crapola is EXACTLY that.

And John S. Not to worry. I replaced that jaloppy with an XF. No oil leaks!

Tom A

[lugerholsterrepair]

Colonel...I got a reply from the maker who sez the smell will disappear in 3 months!!

Did this Gentleman happen to indicate what kind of noxious chemical was causing this assault on your nasal passages?

Jerry Burney

[Navy]

I have it buried in a mixture of cat litter and baking soda; will shake it every couple of days and let it stew-it is all in a sealed black plastic garbage bag in my garage. The heat of the garage *should* help speed along out-gassing.

Heres hoping!

Tom A

[lugerholsterrepair]

Colonel, An easier way to destink it would be to send it back to the bonehead who stunk it up in the first place.
Did he ever tell you what made it stink?

Yer Airborne Pal, Jerry

[alanint]

If this was sourced from South America they have very different methods of curing leather that do not involve the EPA or any other health requirements.
I have purchased items in the past in SA, (not clothing related), which gave off a very strong chemical smell. It does dissipate over time but is very anoying while it lasts. Damage to your gun's finish from contact should be a strong consideration.

[Navy]

The guy didn't/wouldn't say what it was but the smell was z'ackly like #2 diesel.

I wonder if that is ever used on leather; I hope not as effects of petroleum on leather are known and BAD.
Tom A

[lugerholsterrepair]

If his eBay info is accurate he has sold more than the one to you..I wonder if they all stink? I cannot emagine why anyone would use a diesel fuel on leather. Diesel is a refined oil. Nasty stuff.
Jerry

[susan]

Good luck on that.

I had some "South American" leather that stunk also. Tried all of the above, and even freezing, which is my tried and true remedy for eliminating anything vile. After 13 years it still stunk. I finally determined the animal was a camel or a goat, and the scent was part of the beast.

I donated it. I hope someone is enjoying my beautifully crafted and permanently stinky bag.

[Ron Wood]

When all of the South American Naugas became extinct, they had to resort to other materials. It was determined that goatskin or cowhide properly treated with a secret combination of burro dung, chili and used motor oil closely approximated Naugahyde. Unfortunately, the supply of '57 Chevy Nomads was very limited, so the upholstery industry turned to the manufacture of fashion accessories and rare Luger carbine cases.

Hi Susan, haven't heard from you for a while!

[Heinz]

Diesel fuel can be back of a very cheap tanning process where it serves as a defatting agent. If I recall correctly it is a substitute for the preferred solven t of gasoline and the other step involves battery acid. Those using this receipe may not survive long in the business.

[susan]

Hello Ron-Thanks for the greeting!

I am pretty much just luker. The community is so large now that there is more 'on topic only'. I am no expert on lugers or their history; I just love to read and learn.

I am familiar with leather and off-gassing. Products I work with retain their stink untill removed from platic. I would put this item in fabric or paper. Seems logical that a sealed or closed bag would hold the gas/chemical scent in.

[susan]

A popular product on the market now is bi-cast leather. It is a blend of vinyl and ground up leather which really is very similar in appearance and texture to an all leather product. It can fool most people. It should have a bonded backing, not the suede like texture of all leather, so it is not in question here.

[Heinz]

Tom, I checked on the web and the receipe for home tanning does involve gasoline or turpentine or diesel oil as a first step defatting agent. That is followed by a table salt and battery acid tanning mixture (Sodium chloride and Sulfuric acid if you want to sound like a consultant).
I suggest you take the holster out of the palstic bag and just put it in the litter box. Let it stay until the cat drags it out. You will at least have an explanation for the smell.

PS The Bulgarian surplus brotherhood says this serves you right for abandoning them as suppliers.

[Navy]

Heinz,

Sounds like a good idea; I will give it a couple more days in the bag and then put in open plastic box buried in cat litter, soda and activated charcoal.

Oh, screw a bunch of Vulgarians.
Tom A.

[alanint]

There is also something to be said for open air drying. I sometimes hand items I want to de scent out on the back patio, under roof and out of direct sunlight for days and airflow, plus South Florida heat seems to help in many cases.

[PhilOhio]

Having been heavily into holster making and leather tooling in bygone years, I learned a little about the stuff. Given the choice, always stay with vegetable tanned leather. As for the rest of the processes, there are so many that you would not believe it. There is no standard method. All of them are extremely tedious, filthy, disgusting, and often dangerous. If I told you what they do, you would think I was making it up.

Now remember, much of the horrid toxic mess that often goes into that leather, to embalm it, stays there forever, or until such time as you burn it because you can no longer tolerate being in the same county with it.

When you put a valuable antique Luger into one of those, that is ultimate togetherness. You have no clue what may happen to the steel, even from relatively short term exposure. You are rolling the dice, buying one of these repro holsters made in some dirt floor third world hut by craftsmen who can sew with their bare feet.

Having said that, you might buy one where the leather was vegetable tanned according to a perfectly good, old time recipe that gives a wonderful product. But you just don't know. Unless you tanned it or you bought it from a reputable supplier who can tell you how it was tanned, you are rolling the dice.

Conventional wisdom is that you should never leave a handgun in any holster for a long period, or it will be damaged. This is not necessarily true. If the leather has been done correctly, a revolver with a nice polished blue finish can stay in it for decades without damage. I know that for a fact. BUT, who wants to gamble that your particular holster is one of these? Not me. So don't store them in any holster, and certainly not in one that smells like Al Bundy's socks.

And Ron Wood,

You brought back some memories.

I see that you have really researched this leather thing. You even knew about the tragic nauga extinction disaster of a few short years ago. I'm not sure if Al Gore covered that in his award winning film, "Liberal Brain Farts and Intestinal Leakage". He should have. Only a few close friends are aware that, anticipating that the South American Nauga Infant Respiratory Seizure Syndrome (NIRSS) outbreak might lead to just such a thing, as it eventually did, I had imported one of the last wild breeding pairs of naugas from Chile back in the 1960s, where an uninfected few had survived in the High Andes. I had them penned in my back yard outside Washington, and didn't realize what energetic little diggers they were, with those big three-toed paddle feet. Well, they got out under the fence one night, and before dawn they had torn up the neighbor's entire one acre vegetable garden. He woke up, heard noise, saw vague shapes, and hosed 'em down with his 11-87 (Montgomery County cops never did catch him). When the smoke cleared, I had to pay up for the damage and dragged my poor pets home. Since I had to pay for the mess anyway, I also hauled some of the ruined vegetables home in a wheelbarrow. So coincidentally, I had everything necessary to vegetable tan two nauga hides, but there were so many buckshot holes that I could only get a couple square yards, barely enough for a few motorcycle seats, a wallet, and a couple golf club covers. I gave up on my nauga breeding program and switched to buying leather from Tandy. Then they went belly up, too. But I hear they are back in business, after doubling and quadrupling prices, of course.

[alanint]

Interestingly enough, I worked for Uniroyal Chemical for about four years back in the late 1980s. I met some of the original "breeders" of Naugas there. The company had an incredible average employee longevity of 18 years at the time, with some employees registering in the 40 and 50 years with the company!!

[saxthorpe]

Hang in there folks, Jerry is going to try his magic on a Luger holster with more than 40 years of cigar smoke on it...

Bruce