I'm trying to restore some old Yugo ammo pouches that look like dead turtles.

Worth working on......or should I just toss 'em?

Any tips for working on old badly stored leather slings, ammo pouches, etc.?

I rub in a bit of vasiline.

Clean them real good with plain old saddle soap and let them dry well. Then I use a leather treatment called Lexol, neatsfoot oil also works well. Most saddle and tack shops carry Lexol.

Stay away from anything with a strong petro chemical formulation. Believe it or not neatsfoot oil is not the best for leather its kerosene based and is popular because its been around for a long time but only because it was the only thing available in the old days. Most all boot manufactures say to stay away from it. Among collectors and the only treatment recommended by the Smithsonian for leather is Pecards Leather Dressing. Check out their website. It is the best.
If you feel compelled to go the oil route and for some leather it is the way to go, get Redwings Boot Oil. Its good soaks in fast and will not cause cracking like neatsfoot.

Daman I second Redwing Boot Oil , most any shoe store that sells Redwings should have it. It keeps my boot soft and pliable and I am rough on boots. Boon

Pure neatsfoot oil is made from animal proteins and does not contain petrolium products.

Pecards and Montana Pitch Blend are two of my favorites. Both will get the oils back into the leather and help to protect it from the elements while also letting it breath, if that makes any sense.

You also might contact Turner Saddlery (they make the best repro 1907 slings around) and ask for their opinion. I know they recondition old slings and you might ask what they use.

http://turnersling.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=TS

OK Don't laugh!

Barbasol shaving cream. Actually you can use any brand of shaving cream, just look in the ingredients to make sure it has lanolin in it. warm everything, just don't get it too hot to comfortably hold, and then coat it all with shaving cream, work it all over. You can use a soft brush to loosen any dirt or soil that is still on it. After everything is coated and scrubbed a bit, leave it in a warm place- ideally just in direct sunlight on a hot day- for about 1/2 hour to an hour. Then wipe off with a soft towel. It looks very clean and will be nice and supple too.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark:
OK Don't laugh!

Barbasol shaving cream. Actually you can use any brand of shaving cream, just look in the ingredients to make sure it has lanolin in it. warm everything, just don't get it too hot to comfortably hold, and then coat it all with shaving cream, work it all over. You can use a soft brush to loosen any dirt or soil that is still on it. After everything is coated and scrubbed a bit, leave it in a warm place- ideally just in direct sunlight on a hot day- for about 1/2 hour to an hour. Then wipe off with a soft towel. It looks very clean and will be nice and supple too.

Not laughing at all! I’ve used Barbasol on saddles many times and it works much better than saddle soap to clean and soften leather. Lanolin is great stuff...its one of the ingredients in my home made bore cleaner, and it also works great to protect metal and wood in wet weather because moisture just can’t seem to get past it or through it.

Olive oil or canola oil-a lot of saddlemakers are using them-i've been using canola for a while-works great.

quote:

Originally posted by 300 H-H:
Olive oil or canola oil-a lot of saddlemakers are using them-i've been using canola for a while-works great.

That would certainly make eating your leather a bit more palatable if you got stranded in the wilds!

A saddle maker advised me to try it on some stiff dry knife sheaths. It worked very well but did darken the leather a bit. Just wet your finger tips and work it in. The friction and heat are what gets it there.
Good luck