Pre-WWII web slings, common, uncommon, rare or unobtainium?

[browningautorifle]

Nice catch, wish it could tell us where it's been. Well used but nice.

[jond41403]

Wow you did a great job if that used to be black!

[Low & Slow]

Must agree with Jon, heck of a save to get all that dye out, and get that result.

[peregrinvs]

Thanks. This is how it started and I think that helped bring the price down.
I’ve done the same thing in the past with other dyed black British webbing such as a 1908 Pattern haversack, a 1908 Pattern bayonet frog and a 1919 Pattern cutlass frog.

[Garandy]

Finally tracked down a WWI dated sling for my 1913 Enfield SMLE that didn’t cost the earth. It had been dyed black (possibly indicating post-WWI Irish use) but I was able to remove it with Rit Color Remover. Note the maker name and date stamped on the brass ends and a government property / inspection mark inked on the webbing.
Attachment 131347Attachment 131348Attachment 131349

Wow, that came out well.

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Anyone try doing anything with one of the painted rather than dyed slings?

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I have a spare M.E.Co 1936 sling (Mills Equipment Company) in usable condition.

I must have missed this when you first posted it. Thanks for thinking of me.

Send me a PM or email if you still care to discuss.

[peregrinvs]

I have successfully removed paint from webbing in the past by blasting it at point blank range with a pressure washer.

BUT it’s not a cost free exercise. It also strips out the khaki dye on the surface leaving it very pale necessitating a recolour with khaki blanco. I did this on two 1937 Pattern ammunition pouches and the end result was a great improvement, but it didn’t return them to their exact original unpainted appearance.

The webbing also needs to be strong and undamaged to cope with the pressure. I also attempted to take some white paint off a 1908 Pattern frog and it basically blasted apart when the water jet hit a patch of rotted webbing under the paint…

[Garandy]

Just finished working on 15 slings I bought as a bit of a pig in a poke. About half were dyed or painted and about a third are longer, presumably Bren slings. All unmarked on the brass.

I tried a bath of Rit Color Remover and it took some of the color out, but not nearly enough. My blue/black slings are mainly still blue/black though one looks like it has a disease of some kind as it's a bit blotchier now.

Working on the rust stains next........

[Strangely Brown]

I tried a bath of Rit Color Remover and it took some of the color out, but not nearly enough. My blue/black slings are mainly still blue/black though one looks like it has a disease of some kind as it's a bit blotchier now.

On entering boys service in 1966 we were all issued with new 37 Pattern webbing (except rifle slings which were kept in the armoury) the next step was to dye them black with a commercial dye; the smell has stayed with me to this day!
Once dyed black we then used Kiwi boot polish to give the webbing a deeper shiny black, those of us lucky enough to find we had been issued with webbing that contained black metal buckles were then told to exchange them for brass buckled webbing and repeat the dye and boot polish regime.

Garandy, is it any wonder the black is difficult to remove!

[Flying10uk]

I tried a bath of Rit Color Remover and it took some of the color out, but not nearly enough. My blue/black slings are mainly still blue/black though one looks like it has a disease of some kind as it's a bit blotchier now.

It all depends on what was applied to the webbing in the first place as to what can be removed now. Sometimes all that is required is water and a nailbrush.

I do have several tins of what I believe was marketed as an alternative to blanco and which I believe had the consistency similar to boot polish. I've not opened the tins but I think once it was applied to webbing it was on there for good.

[Mk VII]

37 Webbing continued to be issued to the Royal Armoured Corps into the 1970s, the tankies not having much use for webbing anyway - it usually stayed in the bins on the tank. Other people have reported having to bootpolish it black.