Grotty old sling, eww!

[jumbopanda]

I just washed one of those old surplus AK leather slings and it was pretty gross. As soon as I dipped it in the water, the water became completely soiled. And while it sat underwater, small air bubbles started coming out of the leather!

Anyone know a good way of making a really old piece of leather a little...less unpleasant?

[slick_711]

Well soapy water would be the first step (I guess?) but after you've cleaned it that way and dried it out a bit try some of the leather conditioner that they use on baseball mitts? I would think that would help to clean and restore the surface? I have used leather conditioner on most of my holsters and an old pair of boots or two with good luck, but I'm drawing conclusions as to its effectiveness on an old milsurp sling. It's worth a shot though.

The same stuff can be found at gun shops for your holsters, but it is the same and twice the cost because it will have a little picture of a holster on it.