Preserving Holsters

[iknowthisguy13]

I am new to holster making and am wondering what you all use and recommend your customers use to preserve their holsters without softening the leather and losing retention. Any and all advice appreciated.

Thank you,

-Joe

[thinckley]

On a similar note, is there any way to regain retention for a holster that has loosened up?

[Lobo]

My usual recommendations are to avoid all oily or greasy products, touch up scratches and scrapes with leather dye, and use only a light application of neutral shoe polish on exterior surfaces. Obernauf's makes a good wax product for leather maintenance, Johnson's Paste Wax is pretty good, Renaissance Wax is pretty good, but all of these can be overdone, especially if applied too heavily or too frequently.

Any holster will wear out with enough use. As a holster ages and is used the leather will gradually become more and more flexible, the leather fibers at points of stress and flexing will become stretched and start to break down. The only way to avoid these results is to put the holster away somewhere and not use it. When a holster has worn to a point that it no longer performs as intended it is time to retire that holster.

I know of several holsters that I made 30 to 40 years ago that are still in use, but those have invariably been holsters that have not been used for every day carry. I have holsters that I have used for 5 years or more that still function quite well. When I was a working cop I wore out a few holsters and belts over years of daily use.I doubt there is any strict rule on longevity for leather holsters; the factors of materials, construction methods, user's habits, exposure to the elements, all play a part in determining this.

Then there are individual customers and their practices. Like the guy who complained that his holster had gone limp and lost all retention, sent it back to me, and it was determined that he used gasoline to clean it. Some others used baseball glove grease, neatsfoot oil, lanolin, aloe vera, and Lord knows what else to "improve" their holsters, or because they heard or read somewhere that was how it should be done. I remember one who kept his holster on the dashboard of his truck all day every day, then found out what long term exposure to direct sunlight and heat can do to leather.

[cgleathercraft]

he used gasoline to clean it.

I am at a loss for words that anyone would ever think that is a good idea.....

[Red Cent]

Ignorance can be fixed, stupid is to the bone.

[RVM45]

Friends,

This may not occur to someone—lying down to sleep while wearing one's holster…

Which might seem reasonable when camping or crashing in places that you don't trust 100%...

Will ruin many holsters—especially shoulder holsters—in short order.

…..RVM45

[chiefjason]

Saddle soap to clean. Neutral shoe polish to shine. Stay away from conditioners and oils. I put a bit of oil on it before it leaves, that's all it needs.