Lether restoration and protection

[siegersallee]

Hi All,

I was looking at Brownells website and found a product called
"Leather Dressing Ross Leather".

Has anyone used this product before and is it good to protect and preserved old luger holster leather.

Thanks,
Richard

[lugerholsterrepair]

Richard, Is there any indication of what's in it? Leather dressings have many purposes. Keeping off water & mud, dirt etc. Many are not appropriate for a statically used/displayed antique historical artifact.
Then there is the purpose for which you want the dressing..to shine? Prevent cracking? Soften? It is important to know the ingredients to determine what it will achieve, what you expect it to do.
It's also possible to put different potions on different parts..one for say the hinge, top of belt loops, closure strap and something else for the hard molded surfaces.
There has been a lot written on this subject both here and on Jan Still's Gunboards.

[siegersallee]

Hi Jerry,

I am trying to protect, and if possible, restore the leather on a number of items from 1908-1918 period.

The leather on the holsters is OK but, I don't want them to get worse.
There are no rips or tears but, there are places where the leather is very dry and beginning to show cracking.
I am looking for something that will make the leather stop drying out and to some degree act as a restorative.

There are a number of leather bayonet scabbards that are not in good shape. The leather is hard and dry with some cracking.

Again, I am trying to at least ensure that they don't get worse and if possible to bring them back.

Richard

[lugerholsterrepair]

Richard, Leather cannot be brought back. Once you see cracking that's that. I know of some guys who go to great lengths..sanding and filling on and on. Yes they can erase some cracking but it's not the same surface..at any rate it is always better to prevent the problem if you can. Were I in your position..and most of us are I would put on a light coat of lanolin cream, set in the sun for 20 minutes and gently rub with a terry cloth towel. This will treat only the surface. It does not soak to any depth and cause greasy oily problems. After treatment you will not know it was ever applied in a few days. Lanolin is squeezed out of sheep hides. Out of hide..into hide. Clean and neat. It will prevent the surface from drying out so much it cracks.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by lugerholsterrepair

Leather dressings have many purposes...
Then there is the purpose for which you want the dressing..to shine? Prevent cracking? Soften?

Jerry, I have a question, somewhat on-topic...What would you put on a 60+ year old baseball glove to soften it???

Pic below...

There's also a story,,,But you can skip that if you want...

It's 1962, I'm in Little League baseball, the cheap league (hat & T-shirt only)...It's a hot Summer day, my team has an afternoon game at Jayne Park, about two miles from my house...I ride my bike. I get to the park, there's three diamonds, all working. The two teams ahead of us on our diamond are still playing, so I hang my brand new Wilson/Al Kaline glove on my bike handlebar and wander off to the other two diamonds to see if any of the kids in my neighborhood are playing.

My mother bought me the glove especially for Little League; my friends told me to rub Vaseline in the pocket to soften it up, but it's still real stiff, I can barely flex it.

I see the teams lining up to shake hands on our diamond, so I run over to my bike and grab my glove and dash over to the...Wait...This isn't my Al Kaline...It's a Sears Roebuck/Ted Williams 1662...I run back over to my bike; yep, it was on my bike all right...I run around frantically looking for a bike or player with my new Wilson, but the manager is yelling for a 2nd baseman, so I run over to the diamond with the Sears/Williams glove, broken hearted...

But it's a well-used glove, and nicely broken in...Loosely strung, soft, and kind of floppy, it flops open & closed with no effort...It's actually comfortable, unlike my new Wilson, which has disappeared...I play out the game, a couple hits come my way, I field them with rising confidence...By the end of the game, I'm happy that someone has swapped gloves with me...But wondering what I'm going to tell my mother...(Needless worry; she never noticed).

I hung around after the game, hoping to find the owner looking for it...No one showed up...There was/is initials on the strap, but nobody I asked had those initials...Kind of a strange story, but true...

This Sears/Williams glove went to college with me, in the trunk of my Austin-Healey 100-6 and got battery acid burns on it (the Healey had the battery in the trunk). I played two years intra-mural softball with it 67-68, 68-69; we won the championship the second year (only 10 teams). Carried in my car for about another 10 years at the PO where me & a fellow worker played catch at lunch. Lately it's been sitting in my bookcase for another 15 years.

Not as floppy as it was when I got it, the rawhide thongs broke and I re-strung it a couple years back. I'll probably never play a game with it again, but I'd like to keep it for Summer picnics when a pick-up game might get started...

It's had Vaseline, Neatsfoot Oil, and probably whatever else we rubbed in our gloves when we were little and knew it all...And it looks awful small now, where it was a big glove back in '62...

[lugerholsterrepair]

Rich, A fascinating story..good memories! BB gloves are usually made with a latigo leather. Pressure treated with waxes and oils. They are unlike Luger holsters which are vegetable tanned. .night and day. I would try something I would NEVER use on a vintage holster..Neatsfoot Oil. It penetrates into the leather fibers and WILL soften. The average environment found in most cars is not too good for leather storage..I would pour out a bit or so and hand work it into the glove. Messy but effective.
Thanks for the story..we all have memories of these types of things and we don't think about them as much as we maybe should!

[siegersallee]

Hi Jerry,

Is there any particular brand of lanolin cream that you would steer me towards?

Richard

[lugerholsterrepair]

Richard, This is what I use.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CONNOLLY-HID...1cf344&vxp=mtr

[siegersallee]

Thanks Jerry! I will get some.

[rhuff]

Originally Posted by lugerholsterrepair

Richard, This is what I use.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CONNOLLY-HID...1cf344&vxp=mtr

I have been using this product for leather seat covers for so many years I can't remember them all. Good stuff for leather.