1911 USMC Holster

[Sgt Saunders]

Here is a USMC holster I purchased at a local auction. I believe it's in the early stage of Red Rot.[/size]
Every thing it comes in contact with, it leaves red dust on. I need some help on how, if there's anything[/size]
I can do to seal it, for lack of a better word. I gently brushed it with a very soft makeup brush to remove the loose dust. It's stable for now. I know Pecards is out of the question. I don't want a gooey mess leaching out for the rest of it's life. I know the "it's better to do nothing drill too." I am open to some professional advice. I really want to stabilize it. What about Renaissance Wax?????? Has anyone had luck using it for this purpose?[/size]
Thanks[/size]

[Terry K.]

If you send it to me you won't have to worry about it and I will stabilize it.

 

I use Blackrock dressing for leather, it is about the best I have found.

[Sgt Saunders]

Here is is with a coat of Renaissance Wax on it. It sealed it so there is no more red dust comming off it. It even took a shine. I don't know how long it will last but it looks good and is not waxy or stickey.

I will only use it for display it so I'm hoping it will stay sealed. We shall see what happens over time.

 

 

 

[usmchistorian]

Are you happy with Renaissance wax? I have been on the fence about buying it. I have STOPPED using Pecards.

 

Oops- I forgot to add....that is a sweet looking holster!!

[DeuceGI]

I had a seller/collector of 18th century leather bound books recommend Nivea brand unscented hand cream to preserve/protect/stabilize. I have no idea if it meets any sort of archival standards, but the stuff he'd used it on looked great. Maybe it only looked great long enough to sell. I had some luck stabilizing the leather covers of a set of Ohio Civil War rosters suffering from full-frontal red rot by using Lexol. HTH.

Tim

[Sgt Saunders]

Are you happy with Renaissance wax? I have been on the fence about buying it. I have STOPPED using Pecards.

 

Oops- I forgot to add....that is a sweet looking holster!!

I like the ren-wax, but this is the first time I've used it on leather. Still so far so good. It's staying sealed and nothing has rubbed off.

I'm also not handling it on a day to day basis. I have also stopped using Pecards. If I had a new-ish piece of leather that I wanted to protect I probably would use it sparingly. It is a good product but over use it too easy and on really old/dry leather it makes a gooey mess. I have noticed that after apply it to good leather sparingly it will soaking in and protect the leather. But it does take time.

It will darken the leather and sometimes it will lighten after a long time.

I've used the renwax on a couple of firearms and a helmet or two and have seen on adversed effects.

[Welshman]

Don't know what you guys think of it, but I use Meltonian WREN'S Dubbing neutral, waterproofs & Preserves leather, remove surface dirt/dust, apply dubbing evenly with a brush or cloth, working well into the leather, then buff briskly with soft brush or duster.

[etienne]

I had a seller/collector of 18th century leather bound books recommend Nivea brand unscented hand cream to preserve/protect/stabilize. I have no idea if it meets any sort of archival standards, but the stuff he'd used it on looked great. Maybe it only looked great long enough to sell. I had some luck stabilizing the leather covers of a set of Ohio Civil War rosters suffering from full-frontal red rot by using Lexol. HTH.

Tim

 

More than 25 years ago, I had a discussion with a technical guy involved in ancient books restoration (10-13th centuries books, very old, very expensive, each being one million € potentially and each unique) from a very well-known french public museum and he told me that the Nivea cream was the best cost effective solution for leather antiques of low value (that's what militaria items are compared to ancient books) ... he didn't use it on ancient books because he had more efficient products, but they were very very expensive and met specific standard.

 

As he was also a book collector and when he was treating his own books (18-19th centuries for most), he did it using Nivea cream.

 

BUT ... be aware that Nivea cream is mainly a re-hydrating product with only a small protection capacity so you need to treat the leather items regularly, once a year I'd say.

 

If you want a durable protection for long term storage, re-hydrate correctly with Nivea and only then use Renaissance Wax.

 

I Use Nivea cream since 20 years and never had problem with leather care ... unless the leather is already rotten or very dry when I get the item in my collection.

 

E