Leather restoration/preservation

[Johnny Peppers]

Sometimes nothing is not an option. Have a friend that is a Luger collector, and several years back he bought one of the 1900 7" Lugers with original shoulder stock and holster. The pistol and holster had been in a bank lock box for approximately 30 years, and the holster was dried out to the extent the original glazed surface was flaking off. He carefully wrapped it in a soft cloth, but every time the cloth was unwrapped more of the leather surface had flaked off. Finally in desperation he treated the holster with Pecard's Antique Leather Dressing, and now the leather is stabilized.
On page 29 of Kenyon's "Luger: The Multi-National Pistol" there is a pistol and holster identical to my friend's except the one pictured does not have the shoulder stock. The holster shown has the same flaking problem that my friend's did.
Neatsfoot oil is death to leathers you wish to preserve. My dad believed it was good for everything, and treated this Randall knife sheath with it about 35 to 40 years ago. Today the sheath is very black and the leather is coming apart. The leather around the snap has almost completely deteriorated, and the rest is soft and flaky. The sheath was one of the old Johnson sheaths which were a beautiful light russet when new.

[gunner]

Quote from Johnny Peppers: "You can restore most of the suppleness to old leather, but you cannot restore the original strength. If it is the original sling I would not depend on it to perform like new leather."



The compounds are cut with petroleum and mineral oil and will damage leather.

For that i use the Swiss Effax Oil! It contains nothing that can destroy a leather and its cheap. 500ml for $9,50.

Regards

Gunner

[gew8805]

Sorry guys, I've been away for awhile and didn't see the posts. Johnny Peppers, it is obvious that your Dad did three things that hurt the scabbard - first, he used it and no used leather item will stay nice nor will it look unused when used and second, given the date you state - 30 or 40 years ago - he probably used neatsfoot oil compound - the worst thing he could have used. And third, he probably used more oil than he should have.

Now, don't think I am insulting your Dad, your father did nothing wrong, he carried the knife and used it, that's what it was for, nothing wrong with that. But remember, leather will not stay new looking when used. Neatsfoot oil will darken leather but the oxidation of the leather when used outside, neatsfoot oil or not, will turn "beautiful light russet" leather dark, even black in short order. If your Dad carried more than a few times and it got wet in the rain and baked by summer sun, it ages. Can't avoid it. Properly applied PURE neatsfoot oil helps keep the leather in good shape, it is not "death to leather". We can all learn from our fathers......