Mills Canvas Scabbard Cleaning Tips?

[ineverlistentoFM]

Anyone ever tried to clean a Mills Canvas Scabbard or Drum Pouch? I have a very very dirty scabbard by mills. the one without the butt stock configuration, designed for the 1919 model or to be used in tandem with the rare butt stock pouch. I would love to clean it up, it's like it was dipped in gun oil...very greasy. wool light? certainly not bleach. also, the latch is blown out...any good way to repair it? does it have much value? thx

[darrylta]

Sure it has value, I assume you acquired it with a Colt TSMG purchase?

 

I'd try a couple of sewing / tailor shops to get some leads on who could help you make it functional.,

Do you have the original snap? If not, it appears to be a common item on other style period pouches.

 

As far as cleaning, I'd try out your theories on a soiled period 1911 mag pouch and or

post on a reenactor site to get some ideas, you know their stuff takes a beating.

 

Let us know how it turns out,,I have a very stiff but clean RUSCO case that could

use some TLC.

 

My 2 cents,

Darryl

Edited November 27, 2012 by darrylta

[ineverlistentoFM]

thanks Darryl; i think i'll try woolite--i don't have the snap...and...yes...bought 3k + worth of accessories/books from the same owner who was getting rid of things...all of the 21s or 21/28s, I've seen since then are not close in condition; i was very satisfied.

[RoscoeTurner]

Try a search on this website, there are several threads about the care and cleaning of canvas - http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/

 

The majority opinions of the serious collectors on that forum is to leave the stuff as is since you risk more damage by trying to clean it.

[ThompsonCrazy]

I've cleaned countless WWII canvass items with great results. Most of these items were gently used or unissued but stored improperly.

 

Here are some key tips:

-Only use cool water

-Do not scrub the material under any circumstances. The dye used will stay put with soaking only but once you scrub the dye will come off and you will be left with spots.

-The best detergent I have found is Palmolive dish soap or equivalent.

 

For a piece like yours I would fill up a bathtub with about six inches of cool water, add about two to three capfuls of detergent, agitate the soap and water with your hand until mixed nicely. There should be very little suds on the top but just a nice soapy solution. Place the piece in the bath and let it soak for a couple of hours checking on it periodically with a visual inspection and swirl the water around the piece to see how it looks. You may find that soaking for a few hours gets the majority of the soiling off. If there are any heavy stains they will not come out. You can gently work the piece with your hands to flex the material but again do not scrub or focus on one area. The key is to agitate the soapy water and piece to loosen and remove the dirt, grime, oil and light grease. Once you are done you can either rinse the piece off with cool water or drain the tub, rinse out the dirt and refill with a fresh cool water rinse to get the majority of the soap out by resoaking. Once you are done rinsing I would place the piece on a wooden broom handle upside down almost like the broom handle is the Thompson and let it drain and dry.

 

What ever dirt which is left in the piece is left. Just repeat, "the enemy of good is better"! You are not going to get the piece to look like new but you can improve it by 25-30 percent in my experience. The soap smell will even go away once dry after a few days and the beautiful smell of vintage canvass will return.

 

The key is that you are improving the piece not restoring to new. You have to be happy with an improvement on this piece.

Try this at your own risk of course but if you follow these steps it will be better than what you started with.

 

As mentioned above you should practice on another piece like a mussette bag (with the mussette removed of course;-)) or a haversack, shovel cover, etc. Stay away from any pieces like canteen covers as the lining material will bleed through. I'm sue we all have a dirty 5 cell mag pouch we can practice on. You will get a slight yellow tinge to the water on a large khaki piece and a significantly darker tinge on OD pieces. This is completely normal and expected. If you become uncomfortable with the color of the water just stop, rinse with cool water and let dry. My opinion is that the khaki pieces come out much better than OD. When rinsing just let the water flow gently over the piece. No pressure washing. I prefer the clean cool water soak method for final rinse.

 

Your enemies are:

-hot or warm water (seem to release the dye much more aggressively, exponentially even and hot water completely removes oils on small leather pulls/pieces drying them out miserably)

-scrubbing by hand or brushes (either will take the surface dye off)

-harsh chemicals. Remember what oil clean up crews use on animals. Palmolive is very gentle.

 

Take before and after photos.

 

TC

Edited November 28, 2012 by ThompsonCrazy

[dalbert]

Good post, TC! Your experience with this process shows through. It sounds like a very reasonable way to clean canvas items, if they must be cleaned.

 

Thanks!

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

[ineverlistentoFM]

TC--i appreciate your post and time you put into it; thanks alot and i'll post results when i get around to it. wanted an expert op before messing something up. again, thank you. T

[Big Al]

New "Lift-The-Dot" female snap assemblies can be purchased from here for $1.49 each: http://www.atthefron...tCode=fhwltdass

 

Canvas can be obtained from the same source as the snap for $9.99 a yard: http://www.atthefron...ctCode=fhusno8d .

 

You might also want to try this webbing if the canvas does not match the case, $5.00 per yard: http://www.atthefron...ductCode=fhwodw

 

For the repair, start by carefully snipping away the frayed canvas and stitch the new canvas into place on both sides of the flap. This will give the repair extra strength versus just stitching the new canvas to just one side. You might want to go to some kind of specialist for that if you can't do it yourself. If you go with the webbing, just stitch it to the back as 2 thicknesses of webbing would be too much for the snap to hold.

 

After the patches are sewn into place, carefully cut holes where the snap will be placed. After that, align the holes in the canvas with the hole in the snap and carefully press the prongs through the canvas (you might want to mark the positions of the prongs on the canvas with a marker and make small slits with a razor knife or some such to make this easier). Once the front is installed, place the backing piece on the other side of the canvas and carefully bend the prongs over, first with pliers, then gently tap them until secure with a small hammer.

 

You might want to get a few female snaps just in case you mangle one on your first attempt.

 

Good luck.

Edited November 29, 2012 by Annihilator I

[ineverlistentoFM]

Cool of you both to take that time for me...thx

[Dpedersen]

On 11/27/2012 at 8:11 PM, ThompsonCrazy said:

I've cleaned countless WWII canvass items with great results. Most of these items were gently used or unissued but stored improperly.

 

Here are some key tips:

-Only use cool water

-Do not scrub the material under any circumstances. The dye used will stay put with soaking only but once you scrub the dye will come off and you will be left with spots.

-The best detergent I have found is Palmolive dish soap or equivalent.

 

For a piece like yours I would fill up a bathtub with about six inches of cool water, add about two to three capfuls of detergent, agitate the soap and water with your hand until mixed nicely. There should be very little suds on the top but just a nice soapy solution. Place the piece in the bath and let it soak for a couple of hours checking on it periodically with a visual inspection and swirl the water around the piece to see how it looks. You may find that soaking for a few hours gets the majority of the soiling off. If there are any heavy stains they will not come out. You can gently work the piece with your hands to flex the material but again do not scrub or focus on one area. The key is to agitate the soapy water and piece to loosen and remove the dirt, grime, oil and light grease. Once you are done you can either rinse the piece off with cool water or drain the tub, rinse out the dirt and refill with a fresh cool water rinse to get the majority of the soap out by resoaking. Once you are done rinsing I would place the piece on a wooden broom handle upside down almost like the broom handle is the Thompson and let it drain and dry.

 

What ever dirt which is left in the piece is left. Just repeat, "the enemy of good is better"! You are not going to get the piece to look like new but you can improve it by 25-30 percent in my experience. The soap smell will even go away once dry after a few days and the beautiful smell of vintage canvass will return.

 

The key is that you are improving the piece not restoring to new. You have to be happy with an improvement on this piece.

Try this at your own risk of course but if you follow these steps it will be better than what you started with.

 

As mentioned above you should practice on another piece like a mussette bag (with the mussette removed of course;-)) or a haversack, shovel cover, etc. Stay away from any pieces like canteen covers as the lining material will bleed through. I'm sue we all have a dirty 5 cell mag pouch we can practice on. You will get a slight yellow tinge to the water on a large khaki piece and a significantly darker tinge on OD pieces. This is completely normal and expected. If you become uncomfortable with the color of the water just stop, rinse with cool water and let dry. My opinion is that the khaki pieces come out much better than OD. When rinsing just let the water flow gently over the piece. No pressure washing. I prefer the clean cool water soak method for final rinse.

 

Your enemies are:

-hot or warm water (seem to release the dye much more aggressively, exponentially even and hot water completely removes oils on small leather pulls/pieces drying them out miserably)

-scrubbing by hand or brushes (either will take the surface dye off)

-harsh chemicals. Remember what oil clean up crews use on animals. Palmolive is very gentle.

 

Take before and after photos.

 

TC

Bringing an old post back to life! Scored an early Mills gun case without the buttstock provision and it was beyond filthy! Used this trick and cleaned it up very well. Still stained some, but way better than when it arrived. Really good info in this post, thanks!

[TD.]

Very nice! +1

[Dpedersen]

Thanks Tom!

[Colt Chopper]

Big Score. that makes maybe 4 or 5 that I have seen !!!!

[Countryboy77]

I seen a power washer work wonders on web gear,stay at least 6" away and of course know the powlwer of your washer.The washer used on canvas was at tye car wash and after a sun dry it was good as new