Jump to content

Are gloves really necessary to be worn while handling military collectibles?


foxcompany1944
 Share

Recommended Posts

foxcompany1944

If anyone could enlighten me on this? Are gloves really necessary to be worn while handling military collectibles? If it Is necessary,what kind?

 

Daniel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Daniel, some collectors will expect gloves to be worn when handling some of their items. A good pair of white cotton gloves are generally what is worn. The natural oils on a persons skin can cause discoloration and damage to items over a period of time. Washing your hands well before handling an item is not enough. Hope this helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

foxcompany1944

I've been touching my collection with bare hands for years,does that hurt the value greatly? Though I did wash them very well before touching items.

 

Daniel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also do not wear gloves while "playing" with my collectables, nor do I know of many people who do. I have been to some shows where dealers expect you to wear gloves before touching their items. I would not worry about it unless you are collecting 19th century or earlier items.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

foxcompany1944

Ok, I understand if you have very sweaty hands to wear cotton gloves but otherwise I don't think there is much to worry about.

 

Daniel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this typically occurs with either high condition firearms or high end swords and sabers where even a few flecks of rust or etched fingureprint can have a serioud impact of value. If you take a fine engraved M1850 Staff officers sword in V. Fine condition and touch the blade, your fingure print will etch and rust into the blade and this can happen quickly. Take a $20,000 Tiffany Saber and it can impact the value tremendously. For most run of the mill items I don't think its that big of deal however I hate having to clean and wipe down my Civil war weaponry every time I display it at a talk or an event. Depends on what it is. Most uniforms, hats, webgear, helmets save the top enders are generaly. Medals: yes, Swords: yes, Firearms: yes, and diffinately paper when taking it out of the protective sleave.

 

Terry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wouldnt sweat it on helmets and gear.Unless its a High end metal guards helmet or something similiar.

 

As stated its mainly for metal.Often you see the Japanes sword gurus doing this as well.I often see a couple local dealers here that continually wipe their gunds down at the shows.They wear the cotton gloves and have sprayed them with a firearms oil or silicone lubricant.When someone handles they gun they will wipe it fown after the person places it back on the table.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Croix de Guerre

It kind of depends on what your handling and how much you spent on it. For me things changed when I bought the Waldo Peirce group. I felt an obligation to handle the material with extreme care and as a result I purchased archival boxes, acid-free tissue paper and yes, white cotton gloves. I wear the gloves now when ever I handle not only Waldo's stuff but any photos or paperwork. If you are going to invest real money into these artifacts, then I feel it is kind of a no-brainer to educate yourself in some basic archival techniques to help preserve your investment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only time I use white cotton gloves, is when I handle gloves! You never know where other peoples hands have been. if you don't wear protection on your hands, what other people touched may contaminate you. Then when you touch something else, you may spread the harmful germs.

The only thing worse then handling other peoples gloves, is to touch gloves that have touched gloves that other people have used to handle gloves that belonged to another person.

 

The only time this condition gets worse is when a person who has handled items that have been touched by another person wearing gloves is DYSLEXIC......

Then the whole thing gets turned in-side-out!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only time I use white cotton gloves, is when I handle gloves! You never know where other peoples hands have been. if you don't wear protection on your hands, what other people touched may contaminate you. Then when you touch something else, you may spread the harmful germs.

The only thing worse then handling other peoples gloves, is to touch gloves that have touched gloves that other people have used to handle gloves that belonged to another person.

 

The only time this condition gets worse is when a person who has handled items that have been touched by another person wearing gloves is DYSLEXIC......

Then the whole thing gets turned in-side-out!!

 

Sounds like a whole lot of "touching"going on..........kinda a touchy subject :blush:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

AAF_Collection

I wear white cotton gloves when handling insignia,knives/swords,medals and some books/photos/paper,the reason I say only some with the latter is while the oils on your skin will damage paper the lack of feel caused by wearing gloves can also cause damage,ie it is much easier to accidentally damage a delicate document when you have reduced feeling in your fingers.

 

(JS and Ian,I'm not sure what consenting adults may or may not do in their own homes/lodge whilst wearing gloves should be discussed here :blink: some of us are of a sensitive disposition :blush: ) .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

will not wearing gloves casue damage ot your items? Yes. However the damage is different depending upon the item. Assume your hands are clean. touching webbing is going to have a very small effect, as opposed to any metal, or polished metal, or photographs.

 

One issue is that some people use the SAME gloves fo rever, and in that case do transfer dirt and spores and such frofm item to item which may actually casue MORE damage than just fingers.

 

A good rule of thumb is that if it is an important and valuable item, you should. If it is someone else's, you should. Anytime you see a guy on TV examining something that could 'potentally' be rare and or valuable and they are not wearing gloves, it makes wonder about just how much they know.

 

.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wear white cotton gloves when handling insignia,knives/swords,medals and some books/photos/paper,the reason I say only some with the latter is while the oils on your skin will damage paper the lack of feel caused by wearing gloves can also cause damage,ie it is much easier to accidentally damage a delicate document when you have reduced feeling in your fingers.

 

(JS and Ian,I'm not sure what consenting adults may or may not do in their own homes/lodge whilst wearing gloves should be discussed here :blink: some of us are of a sensitive disposition :blush: ) .

 

 

Right! That's it Matt.....the gloves are off!! :excl:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am studying Cultural Heritage in Amsterdam.

I am learning to work in a museum (conservator for example).

In the first months of this year, I had a subject called Materials Knowledge.

They teached me how to handle objects from different materials, like steel objects, papers, cotton objects etc.

 

I learned a lot, and if you want to preserve your objects as long as possible: See below if you should wear gloves or not

 

Metal objects: Vinyl gloves

Textile: Cotton or thin latex gloves

Paper: No gloves, but keep your hands clean.

Books: Vinyl or nitrile gloves when you're handling very old manuscripts (WW1)

 

If you want to know more about how to handle objects, I recommend the book Manual of housekeeping, the care of collections in historic houses open to public (National Trust 2011)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In 1977 (year 2 of a 35-year museum curator career) I watched in horror as an obsessive-compulsive Preparator forced himself and two helpers to wear white gloves while installing a 150 lb 19th century marble sculpture which, on its way from the cart to the chest-high plinth, slid completely out of their hands, fell against the adjacent cement wall, turned parts of it into gravel dust and cost $1700 to restore.

 

That pretty much ended my obsession with gloves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was taught, when handling firearms and edged weapons, to grasp ONLY by their stocks or grips; carefully avoiding direct contact with the metal. Especially when they are collector pieces.

 

Simply seems to me as a matter of RESPECT, no matter who owns it.

 

I have noted that (maybe) about 1 in 100 people will follow this type handling procedure; yet alone KNOW how to PROPERLY present a weapon to another person.

How many times has someone tried to hand you an edged weapon, 'pointy-end-first'; or worse yet, "Hey, wanna check out my new pistola?...", ....."Uhh, no, Really. As I'd rather NOT see the muzzle first."

 

It really is rather a pet-peeve of mine.

Illustration: one properly presents a rifle for inspection; then the ignorant slob will, nearly invariably, attempt to grab it, with his slimy paws, and proceed to smear-up as much metal as possible.

I say "attempt to grab it", because I have learned over the years, to kindly request that the weapon should not be handled in such manner, and proceed to instruct them to "keep your hands off the metal".

 

Kinda avoids the need to wear gloves in the first place.

 

Yes, there are certainly reasonable exceptions to this 'handling-the-metal-thing':

Such as a weapon, prior to fielding (it's gonna get field-stripped/detail-stripped, cleaned, and wiped-down, at earliest possible, anyhow.)

Or, when SERIOUSLY considering purchasing such.

 

Rant, Over.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kinda avoids the need to wear gloves in the first place.
Or does it...

 

The only time I use white cotton gloves, is when I handle gloves! You never know where other peoples hands have been. if you don't wear protection on your hands, what other people touched may contaminate you. Then when you touch something else, you may spread the harmful germs.

The only thing worse then handling other peoples gloves, is to touch gloves that have touched gloves that other people have used to handle gloves that belonged to another person.

 

The only time this condition gets worse is when a person who has handled items that have been touched by another person wearing gloves is DYSLEXIC......

Then the whole thing gets turned in-side-out!!

 

Now puleeze don't be a-gettin all-kinda insulted JS, however, I know of a similar case. :unsure:

A guy I know, used to wear TWO PAIRS of Nitrile gloves, wherever he went, just in case the outside pair were defective. (We called him "Mr. Blue-Hands", for obvious reasons.)

After much therapy, he went down to one pair, and FINALLY was able to 'go-bare-hand-naked'.

 

Then he gets the 'hand-sanitizer-habit', REAL BAD. A pint in his pocket, and a gallon, for reserve, in his car. Wow.

So then he goes and sits around in a circle and sings "Kumbi-Ya" with a bunch of other germaphobic OCDs.

We kinda jokingly suggested that he just warm up some cosmolene, coat himself liberally with that, and guess what... couldn't get enough cosmo.

 

So anyhow, we decided to have an "intervention". (Dr. Phil was booked-up, so you won't be seeing this on TV.)

There was, however, a very professional Dr. Bambi Velvet, who was able to fit him in.

He has been seeing her for 'intensive therapy' for months, now; and although he says he is "nearly cured" of his germaphobia, Dr. Velvet has advised him that their therapeutic sessions need to continue for quite some time. :huh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Following DSchlagan, I must admit an instinctive reticence to touch with my bare hands/fingers anything "old metal" (guns, knives, silver, brass etc.)

 

I've seen a handful of instances of fingerprints left on that stuff, like an acid etched forever image.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...