Removing shoe polish from holsters?

lugerholsterrepair · 04-14-2020, 12:49 PM

Olle, I guess the first question that comes to my mind is...what color was the holster originally?

Yes, many vintage holsters have had the original black worn off over the years from just cloth rubbing on the surface. They usually display a very pleasant looking brown as the dye is polished off the surface.

Dye is nothing more than super fine particulates that are drawn into the leather suspended in liquid. Some leather is tighter than others and dye is absorbed according to how tight or open the pores of the leather are. In the end, the liquid, usually alcohol is wicked off and the dye, super fine particulates, remains embedded.

Any attempt to remove dye, super fine particulates embedded in leather pores, is met with resistance by the fact that many of these fine black particulates are in little pockets. They must be flushed out and you will not likely get them all without bleach discoloring them.

More problems..the more you rub & scrub and pour chemicals on the more damage you might be doing to the leather surface, subsurface and don't forget the THREAD! Thread is a delicate twist of plant fiber, 80-to over 100 years old!

I could write on this subject for hours/days/months but I will only be in quarantine for another month. I don't know if there's enough time.

But once again, Olle, you might be taking off black when you should be putting it on?

04-14-2020, 12:49 PM	#10
lugerholsterrepair Moderator Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Arizona/Colorado Posts: 7,775 Thanks: 4,995 Thanked 3,133 Times in 1,439 Posts	Olle, I guess the first question that comes to my mind is...what color was the holster originally? Yes, many vintage holsters have had the original black worn off over the years from just cloth rubbing on the surface. They usually display a very pleasant looking brown as the dye is polished off the surface. Dye is nothing more than super fine particulates that are drawn into the leather suspended in liquid. Some leather is tighter than others and dye is absorbed according to how tight or open the pores of the leather are. In the end, the liquid, usually alcohol is wicked off and the dye, super fine particulates, remains embedded. Any attempt to remove dye, super fine particulates embedded in leather pores, is met with resistance by the fact that many of these fine black particulates are in little pockets. They must be flushed out and you will not likely get them all without bleach discoloring them. More problems..the more you rub & scrub and pour chemicals on the more damage you might be doing to the leather surface, subsurface and don't forget the THREAD! Thread is a delicate twist of plant fiber, 80-to over 100 years old! I could write on this subject for hours/days/months but I will only be in quarantine for another month. I don't know if there's enough time. But once again, Olle, you might be taking off black when you should be putting it on? __________________ Jerry Burney 11491 S. Guadalupe Drive Yuma AZ 85367-6182 lugerholsterrepair@earthlink.net 928 342-7583 (CO & AZ) Year Round 719 207-3331 (cell) "For those who Fight For It, Life has a flavor the protected will never know."