I am looking at bidding on a unlined holster with Mexican skirt. The unlined leather is dirty, probably from shoving a dirty gun in and out of it over many years, and the back of the skirt is dirty too. Is there a way to clean the rough side of the leather some without causing harm? Most of you are thinking just leave it alone, but my OCD is kicking in, telling me, if I buy this holster, to try to make it look better.

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

I am not an expert by any means however if the holster is not highly collectable, try saddle soap and Pecard leather dressing. If it is collectable, I would leave it alone. Hope this less than expert advice helps.

Remember the "kits" they used to sell in shoe stores to make Hush Puppies look new again? It consisted of a brass bristled brush and a piece of sponge with a sand paper texture on one side.

I've used those kitchen type of wire brushes and fairly coarse (120 grit?) sand paper on the rough side of various things made from leather over the years. It's helped some, and hasn't hurt anything. Depending how how dirty it is, some plain ol' rubbing alcohol before brushin might help loosen up the dirt.

Whatever you decide to try, take some before and after pics. I never thought to do that, and have wished I had on numerous occassions.

Mark

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S&W Forum Member #721

Wheelgun610,
Would you use saddle soap with the sponge? And, do you think a toothbrush would work instead of the brass brush?

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

I've never used any kind of saddle soap on the rough side. Alcohol will evaporate and brushing leaves the rough side looking rough. Nylon bristle brushes don't seem to do much good on the rough side leather, but I've used old toothbrushes on the fronts of carved holsters to get in the crevices without scratching the leather. Brass kitchen brushes have short bristles that are soft enough that they don't dig in too deep, but will do better than nylon on the rough side.

I usually wait till I get my stuff as clean as possible before applying any kind of conditioner.

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S&W Forum Member #721