Preservation of leather scabbard- what to use ?

[crazy horse]

the renaissance wax is great stuff, I also got some of the the rust neutralizer too, you can rub the rust off with your fingers, I even put some of the wax on some of my bayonets after getting the rust off. really good stuff, it even works good on cd's .

[Markoni Serbia]

Mink oil - Kiwi KIWI CAMP DRY MINK OIL PASTE

deep pentrate in leather---very,very nice!!!!

[Adrian Stevenson]

Never use MInk oil! It will destroy old leather over time. It is very bad.

If you must use something, use renaissance wax.

Museum conservators now recommend leaving old leather alone.

Cheers, Ade.

[Markoni Serbia]

oh noo ((

i put mink oil on all helmets.. Leather is soft,nice... (((((

What now ADE???

[Adrian Stevenson]

Oh no! It will slowly damage the leather. it will also make it turn darker in colour. Nothing you can do now, the damage is done.

Cheers, Ade.

[Nige H]

My advice is do as little as possible to leather items, never use sprit based products to soften the leather, as most of the stuff we talk about on this site is vegetable tanned leather, this needs natural products to preserve and maintained the leather. Use good quality leather and hide creams and steer well clear of oils (mink, and neatsfoot) , yes they soften the hide but will also turn it black in the process. Finally boot polish does not preserve items it just make them look nice, remember leather is a natural membrane, and thus need to breath, if the pours in the hide become blocked the leather will harden and then crack, I have a pair of 1944 date ammo boots which are like new, the reason is they never been issued as a result never polished and bulled up.

Nige H

[justbrowsin]

So just to jump in on this thread, I just bought a belt with nice markings and a nice DAP buckle on it. The belt is getting rigid and I don't know if i should treat the leather or not. I would hate to see it fall apart if it dries out. I may try the renaissance wax on it. My question is how do you store it? Would it be better sealed in a bag or not? I realize out of the sun is best but is humidity worse or better for it? Please let me know if you can. Thanks! Brian

[don_kihotis7]

I also use renaissance wax on many stuff. But never tried it on leather items. Does the renaissance make the dry leather soft and supple again or just protects it?
I have heard that vaseline oil recovers it. Has anyone tried that one on anything, boots, belts etc?

[oradour]

I also use renaissance wax on many stuff. But never tried it on leather items. Does the renaissance make the dry leather soft and supple again or just protects it?
I have heard that vaseline oil recovers it. Has anyone tried that one on anything, boots, belts etc?

donkihotis, I apply this wax to my leather Pickelhaubes with no problems, it will in my experience protect rather than nourish the leather, you have to be careful with old leather, belts, pouches etc, over feed/nourish and you can easily ruin a good item ! I leave alone, and just add the above wax.....
Prost ! Steve.

[don_kihotis7]

donkihotis, I apply this wax to my leather Pickelhaubes with no problems, it will in my experience protect rather than nourish the leather, you have to be careful with old leather, belts, pouches etc, over feed/nourish and you can easily ruin a good item ! I leave alone, and just add the above wax.....
Prost ! Steve.

Hi steve, I get what you say but I have some leather pieces which are hard as a rock and if they bend they will break for sure. I have read that you can soak leather in vaseline oil and then wrap it in clothes to absorb the extra oil. Then you leave it somewhere to dry for a long time. Even a year or so. But I wanted to confirm this method with you guys and secondly to ask where I can get this vaseline oil. I've searched ebay and google with no results.