Green "Crud" on my Slings?

Not sure if this is the correct forum for this but I gotta start somewhere. I'm sure I'm not the first person to mention this topic, probably already discussed somewhere else, if so, please direct me accordingly.

i have numerous vintage military rifles, many with their original leather & brass slings. I don't store the rifles with the slings attached, mainly for one reason; the green "crud" that mysteriously appears wherever the brass buckles/fittings touch the leather! Heaven help you if a chunk of the "crud" breaks off & gets on your clothes, hands or carpet, it will stain anything it touches. Obviously some sort of chemical reaction between the leather and brass components. I've spent countless hours cleaning all the slings periodically only to find the "green crud" is back the next time I take them out.

Anyone know what this stuff is and more importantly, how to stop it from "growing" back?

Appreciate any & all suggestions! --728shooter

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Originally Posted by 728shooter

the green "crud" that mysteriously appears wherever the brass buckles/fittings touch the leather!

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Yup, you came to the right place, its Vertigras. This question has been asked before here is a link to the original thread started by Make Hass in 2009 --> Thread: "Vertigras" (SP) - Green Crap!!! https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=18046

Mike and others give you the instructions for cleaning and maintains it.

Bill,

Mostly spot on. Spelling is Vertigris.

Easily removed with lemon juice and sea salt solution or good quality white vinegar.

:thup:

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Originally Posted by 22SqnRAE

Mostly spot on. Spelling is Vertigris.

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I cut and pasted from the original post ;) Guess I should have spell checked that one.

Bill,

Please don't see this as a pedantic 'dig' just want to make sure that others wanting to search for the details found them easy enough.

I am grateful for the redline spell check on my puta, as I'm partially dyslexic and am hopeless at accurate typing! :madsmile:

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Originally Posted by 22SqnRAE

Please don't see this as a pedantic 'dig'

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Not at all :) I should have caught it and didn't. I didn't catch it when I read the posting < 3 years ago when I was looking for the exact same answer.

Anywayzzz...yes, verdigris tends to form and will actually push sling assemblies apart if allowed to stay. I have a Randall fighting knife I have to keep an eye on to see it doesn't form between the cross guard and leather sheath. I've had to disassemble 1907 slings to remove it as it was inside the rivets and pushing things apart aggressively...

Well, I'm certainly glad I'm not lysdexic!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 22SqnRAE

Bill,

Mostly spot on. Spelling is Vertigris.

Easily removed with lemon juice and sea salt solution or good quality white vinegar.

:thup:

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Well, if we are being pedantic, I must be the pedant's pedant - the correct spelling is verdigris :madsmile:

David, you're absolutely spot on. Thank you. Buggered if I know what happened there. Verdigris was exactly what I was thinking and managed a 't' instead. The power of suggestion, hey? Well, I feel like a right goose now! :(

Probably a good reminder to check and double check my typing.

On to Jim's point about the verdigris pressuring rivets. It's a really good reminder that constant preventative maintenance is essential to preserve all things mechanical. As noted, cleaning verdigris out of brass sling components prevents mechanical expansion and damage. In a similar manner to rust expanding 9 times it's 'eaten' volume, which causes an enormous pressure on surrounding components and leads to mechanical failure. Hence why concrete spalling occurs when the reinforcement steel rusts below the surface.

With brass, the verdigris is actually a product of slow dissolving of the metal to other constituent compounds. Leave it long enough and you'll easily see the erosion caused by the conversion of base metal to other oxidation compounds.

While the nice 'patina' and verdigris colouration is appealing to some, they are simply oxidation products of the base metal, meaning the base metal is slowly, but surely, being consumed and no longer it's full size and intended strength. A technical reality that some people in the collecting fraternity neither care for nor understand, form my observation.