Care for World War II Garand Sling

I picked up a World War II Garand sling and...it looks it. The leather is not cracked anywhere, but it is dirty and has not been cared for.

Question:

Should I go ahead and clean it up, or leave as is?

What's considered the better way to treat a historic sling. I'd like to use it on my WWII era Garand.

Thanks for any advice.

Hello … :)

You might want to try our Google CSE custom search engine located in the top right corner below the words "Advanced Search". It only searches our site using Google techniques and can be quite efficient. For example, in your case, type in the words historic sling treatment and see what happens .. ;)

There are a lot of old posts about how to treat slings, but I noticed this specific one ... ;)

WWII Boyt sling care.

Regards,
Doug

Cool, thanks, mine has the brass frogs on it, so seems I've got an oldie...appreciate the help.

I used Pecards leather conditioner on some of my slings and it made them like new.

Thanks, I'll give it a whirl.

I've only been using Pecards for about 35 years, so can't comment on what it does long term. I was given a box of military slings that were folded and tied many years ago, and appear not to have been stored very well. They had dried to the point that they would not stand trying to straighten then out. I applied Pecards in repeated coats and the slings eventually relaxed enough to be used on rifles, and while I would not trust the weight of a rifle on them, they make good display slings. Pecards is the only thing I use on leather that needs treating.

The worst thing I ever used was Lexol. I had a Model 1909 holster that was very dry, and applied repeated coats of the Lexol. As it dried the leather actually got more dry and brittle, rendering the holster useless.

Ballistol is mineral oil based, so should do no more harm than Baby Oil. The mineral oil will turn the leather dark.

Personally I have never had the white powder form on Pecards treated leather, but have a couple of slings that I treated with Mink Oil about 35 years ago, and to this day they still form the white substance. The slings are still supple, and the white substance wipes off with a soft cloth.

Question...

I checked out Pecards, and what products do you specifically recommend?

They sell a regular leather care and an antique leather care.

I recently acquired a WWII leather holster for a Garand and it needs some TLC, along with my sling.

Thanks.

wheres the pics of the sling & Garand scabbard

All in good time. All in good time.

Now, to my question.

I dont know on something historical like that but i've used saddle soap and neatsfoot oil on historical saddles