Cleaning leather holsters safely

[GuyWithQuestions]

I have an inside the waistband leather holster. The instructions that came with it said to never use anything like saddle soap or mink oil on it, because it'll make the holster too soft. It also says not to soak it in water (which is an obvious one for leather). It says that they oiled them as part of the manufacturing process, that should be sufficient for the life of the holster, and that just occasional paste shoe polish should be sufficient for maintenance. On the website it said that so it could be made into holster leather, the leather was tanned using the vegetable tan method rather than the chrome tan method, so it's a different kind of leather than shoes, wallets, jackets.

My question is how can you actually clean a leather holster without affecting how well it functions? After a while, a holster that you constantly stick down inside your pants will start to smell like body odor. Not to gross anyone out, but almost everyone at some point of their lives has has found something a different color in their their underwear when they're doing laundry, if you know what I mean. You also sometimes have to work where dirt gets on you and maybe inside your clothes. Usually if I need to clean something like a belt or leather shoes, I'll use saddle soap, which the instructions for my holster say not to use because it'll soften it too much. How do you clean leather holsters? Since I like the way my handgun fits inside it, what can I do that will work well but won't mess it up?

 

[rcmodel]

You can safely wash the exterior with mild soap & water and a soft cloth.
Just don't soak it clear through or immerse it.
Then allow it to air dry a couple of days before putting the gun back in it.

High grade vegetable tanned leather is completely free of oil when it comes to the holster manufacture. It is soaked in water in order to tool it, and/or wet mold it to fit the contours of the gun, then allowed to air dry.

Following that, oil, usually a pure vegetable oil, or a derivative of it, is applied and allowed to soak in until the desired rich brown color is reached.
I use Crisco Pure Vegetable oil on all my leather projects.

After the oil is completely absorbed, many holster makers use a product called Tandy Leather Sheen or something similar. It is a water based latex clear finish that protects the leather against dirt & stains.
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/products.asp?number=22002-00

But, with all that being said, once leather has dirt, sweat, and skid marks ground into the fibers, there is not a whole lot you can do about it to restore it to new again.

The best defense is a good offense.
Keep it highly polished with clear past wax, or an occasional re-coat of Leather Sheen and it will provide a surface barrier that keeps the dirt out of the grain in the first place.

BTW: Here is some of my leather work, Vegetable oil and all:



rcmodel

 

[Dravur]

Just a suggestion..

If you are finding your shorts changing color and it is affecting the holster..

Start carrying the gun at about 4 o'clock... not 6 o'clock.

And get a high rise holster.....

 

[GuyWithQuestions]

I actually haven't had that problem, I just know that everyone does even if it takes years to happen. I just want to be prepared, among the many various other ways something can get dirty, because I really like my holster. Do front IWB holsters cause much discomfort? Mine has a slant and is in the back. I usually carry it right behind the right hip. On my back side and to the side right (so probably is at 4 o'clock).

 

[LAK]

I would use a speciality leather cleaning product, like Pecard, followed by a coat of Renaissance Wax - or buy a new holster.

http://www.pecard.com/store.php/

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=3235

--------------------------

http://searchronpaul.com
http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org

 

[Roy Weber]

Cover your trigger

As a holster maker I have always been told to make sure the trigger is covered if you don't want to shoot your leg off!! I find this a unsafe holster!
Roy Weber
http://www.rockingwholsters.com

 

[rcmodel]

If you are talking about the Tom Threepersons style holster in my picture, it is a 90 year old, and widely accepted design for Double and Single-action revolvers.

http://www.epsaddlery.com/pc-65-12-1920-tom-threepersons-2-to-7-12-barrels.aspx

Neither one of those guns need to have the trigger covered if the hammer cannot be cocked.

And they can't be cocked with the safety strap, or hammer thong in place over the hammer, and the fitted holster preventing the cylinder from turning.

They are perfectly safe for the guns they are made for!

But they are not made for Glocks, for instance.


rcmodel

 

[Luggo]

But, with all that being said, once leather has dirt, sweat, and skid marks ground into the fibers, there is not a whole lot you can do about it to restore it to new again.

The best defense is a good offense.
Keep it highly polished with clear past wax, or an occasional re-coat of Leather Sheen and it will provide a surface barrier that keeps the dirt out of the grain in the first place.​

What paste wax do you recommend and how often?

 

[rcmodel]

Kiwi brand "natural" color paste shoe polish works very well.

If you have a black holster, you can use black polish.

But the natural will work well on anything.

Just use it as often as necessary to maintain it looking like it has a polished finish on it. Kinda like shoes!


rcmodel

 

[Cosmoline]

Shoe polish should be fine, or any natural wax protectant. I use pine tar and wax mixture called Huberd's shoe grease. It darkens the leather, but makes it immune from all ailments.

But I can't see how you can use vegetable oils without having them rot on you after awhile. Leave your cooking oil out in the hot sun for a few weeks to see what I mean.

Pine tar. Pine tar for everything! President even.

 

[rcmodel]

Well, I've been using Pure Vegetable Oil for several years now on all my custom leather projects for the initial oiling & color, and none of them have rotted yet.

I was talking to a man named Bill Gomer who runs a saddle making school here in Kansas a few years ago when I found out about it.

He told me he did his saddle-making apprenticeship in Wyoming, back when there were still real cowboys, running real cattle, on real saddles!

One of his jobs at first was to fill the high-dollar 4oz. saddle oil bottles they sold out of a 55 gallon drum of pure vegetable oil in the back room.

He still uses it, and teaches his students to use it at his four-thousand dollar saddle-makers class.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2004/jan/17/craftsman_passes_on/

He uses it on his six-thousand dollar custom saddles!
I have seen him doing it!
http://etc.lawrence.com/galleries/cowboys0104/957_hires.html

If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me!

BTW: He says Neats-Foot oil is the spawn of the devil for hand-made leather saddles!

The smell & rotting you might get from setting your cooking oil out in the sun for a few weeks is from the food, flies, & impurities you got in it using it to cook with first.

Pure Vegetable Oil is just that, Pure.
It won't rot until it gets stuff in it to rot.


rcmodel

 

[GuyWithQuestions]

rcmodel,

So let me make sure I'm understanding the procedure all correctly. If I later need to clean my leather holster, I should first use some soft soap with a wet (but not sopping wet) dish towel to wipe off the outside and not the inside of the holster. Some of that soap from a liquid hand soap dispenser that says "soft soap" will do? Then use a wet dish towel to wipe (rinse) the soap residue that's on the outside of the holster. Then after it dries a little, use a hand towel to apply a slight amount of Crisco pure vegetable oil on the outside of the holster and rub it in a little. Then wipe it off. Then after you allow it to dry a few days, apply Tandy Leather Sheen to the outside. Then after that dries, apply a little black Kiwi shoe paste polish on the outside and then wipe off the extra and buff it so it doesn't get all over my white under shirt (it's an IWB holster)?

 

[Soybomb]

I'd wipe if off with a damp cloth and not much more than that. Quality wax/polish like angelus or kiwi if its scuffed and bad looking. Call your holster maker and ask what he recommends. I bet 9-10 of them will try to reach through the phone and smack you if you start telling them about a "treatment" idea you have for your leather. You might oil your tack leather to keep it flexible and supple but your boned concealment holster is supposed to be hard, not flexible.

 

[rcmodel]

No, do not oil the holster, just keep it clean with mild soap & water, and use paste shoe wax.

My earlier reference to oil & oiling was meant only to show how holster & saddle makers use oil on a just finished product.

Once oiled by the holster maker, no further oiling would be necessary or desirable.

And soybob is exactly right.
Most holster makers have a hard & fast preference as to how to treat their products, and every one of them has a "secret formula" nobody else knows about! If they tell you, they have to kill you!
Best give them a call.

Bottom line though is, you can't do any real harm with Kiwi paste shoe wax on any of them!
And you just might do some good!


rcmodel

 

[ClarkEMyers]

I have been advised by real experts including at least one of the very best that it is not really necessary to alternate holsters and belts but I do it anyway. Certainly good leather is good for years maybe decades but not lifetimes.

I can't lace the holsters differently like boots as a reminder and an indication but I do allow at least one day to air between wearings more if I think it wise. This means I have a fair amount of money in holsters and belts but then again that's just another reason to take care of the leather so the leather can take care of me.

My understanding is protect the surface - neutral paste wax Kiwi or what have you or Renaissance Wax for the wealthy who probably can afford to have it done - the museum wax is pretty pricey - and don't try to put anything into the leather but rather let it come out, wipe it off and wax and polish.

Then too I'd like to have the discipline to practice presentations until I wear out the holster - holsters wear out by getting loose inside not by wear on the outside mostly at least in my experience YMMV.

 

[Monkeyleg]

Looks like I'm resurrecting an older topic.

The straps on my shoulder rig, which were tan, are now getting darker. I'm assuming that it's a combination of dirt, but maybe also fabric dyes. The areas that are getting darkest are those that continually are in contact with the clothing, such as the back straps.

I should have gotten a black shoulder rig, but it's too late.

Galco sells a leather cleaning product. Is it just soap?

 

[LAK]

I have not used the Galco leather cleaner. Be careful about what you use; anything you put on those straps might stain clothing. No big deal on a cheap casual shirt - on the other hand it might ruin a dress white etc.

Personally, I couldn't care less about any color change in a concealed leather holster strap; only the protection of it's servicability. The Renaissance Wax I mentioned above will protect leather against sweat, other moisture and much else. It is also non-staining; you can "soak" a white business card with it, wipe it off, buff it dry, and it becomes transparent. The card is also now waterproof.

 

[PCRCCW]

Holy Crap!!!!!!!!!!! NEVER OIL A CCW HOLSTER! Its NOT a saddle, baseball glove or anything else. NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dont use silicone, polish's, or anything else. Wipe it down with a damp cloth.

Dont use soap and water, as the rinsing process to get the soap off of it, will get it TOO WET!

What have you guys been smoking............?????????????

And as a holster maker, the holster shown above is perfect! Its a double action pistol! The hammer is banded down and cannot fire.......its a design thats been around for 100 years. Its not a CCW rig.......................

Shoot well............and god bless

 

[Doug b]

Monkeyleg, I like Lexol products for cleaning and conditioning leather.TSC stores carry it if you have one it will be in the harness section.Bick 4 is an even better conditioner if you can find it.As with all conditioners use it sparingly a little goes a long way and a lot will turn your leather to mush.

 

[JDGray]

Milt Sparks web page says to use carnuba wax