Old Knife Sheath

[Raignis]

I've got an old folding knife and the sheath that came with it. The knife has brass fittings on each end and whenever I take it out (which isn't very often), the brass is discolored from the leather. This doesn't really bother me as I can polish it. The issue is, if it's left in for a long period of time, green gunk is stuck to the brass and sometimes the wood. It's thick enough that I have to scrub it off with a cloth.

I don't know leatherworking vernacular but, I would describe the inside of the sheath as a raw, unfinshed surface and I'm looking to find out what I might be able to treat it with to keep that gunk from forming and sticking to the knife. Might there be some way to rub and smooth out the leather to get rid of that raw surface.

Thanks

[TexasJack]

Sounds like you may have chrome tanned leather and the residual chemicals are reacting with the brass. Someone gave me a fairly nice knife in a commercial sheath like that many years ago and I tossed it in a drawer and forgot about it. A friend needed a folding knife and I remembered that one and dug it out, only to find that I had to spend the day cleaning that junk out of it.

You might be able to slow down the process with some wax or other coating, but ultimately it's going to continue. If you like the knife, then toss the sheath and either do without one or make (or have made) a new sheath.

[camano ridge]

What you are seeing is what is called Verdigris, it is caused by the reaction of the tanins and tanning salts in leather and there reaction with the brass. It will happen with veg tanned leather as well. That is why you should not leave cartridges in the loops of a cartridge belt, over time you will get verdigris. Texas Jack is correct wax will slow it down but probably won't preventit. Verdigris is one of the reasons that the Cavalry movved from leather cartridge belts to the canvas Prarie belts.

Edited January 14, 2014 by camano ridge

[ChuckBurrows]

try using a good acrylic sealer - Mop and Glow can be found in the laundry section and should work fine....

[Raignis]

Thank you for the feedback. I happen to have some leather wax handy so, I'll give that a try and see how it goes. If that doesn't pan out, I'll just look into getting another sheath for it. Thanks again.