Cleaning webbing

[GRANVILLE]

Interested to read of anyone's experience of cleaning original webbing - by cleaning I don't mean blancoing it. I've a collection of unissued 1908 pattern and have just added a rather nice haversack to it. This has marks consummate with it's age - some might call it 'grubbiness' and I am considering giving it a wash - hand or possibly machine.

 

David

[peregrinvs]

I’ve washed a few bits of webbing in my time. ;-)

 

I would personally give it a brief and gentle wash in some lukewarm water with a smidgeon of fabric detergent. Then rinse in cold water and then hang up to dry. Less is generally more as you will inevitably lose a little of the khaki dye each time you wash it.

[morrisc8]

Hi, i have this large pack 1915 with a lot of marks/stains on it, should i wash it or leave it as is.

       Keith

[Andrew Upton]

If it were mine I'd leave it alone... what's the quote, an antique should glow not shine?

[trenchtrotter]

Leave as it is. Part of its character and life.

[peregrinvs]

If it were mine I would probably give it a brief and gentle wash as described above. However, do nothing is very a good option.

 

I acquired a type 1 1914 Pattern haversack last year which due to the relative fragility of the leather parts, I didn’t wash. I merely gently went over it with the brush attachment on a vacuum cleaner on low power. This removed the loose dirt and dust and it smelled happier afterwards too. 👍

[GRANVILLE]

I think that it can become easy to imagine that the dirt and marks such as this bag has, have somehow come straight out of the trenches, when for all anyone knows, it was possibly in storage until well after the war - one possible reason why it has survived so long? I well remember the excitement, when as a lad of about 7-8, my teacher found an old army backpack in her store cupboard, and asked if I wanted it, so that I could carry some heavy magazines home which she had also cleared out (Look & Learn's). Suddenly, I was much more excited by the webbing backpack, even though it had no shoulder straps to make use of. The point being made here, is that this bag went on to see quite a bit of service throughout my time at junior and secondary school. It was kicked from pillar to post, soaked on occasions, had things spilt over it and so on. Most of the grubby marks had absolutely nothing to do with any war. On that basis, I would not get overly concerned about washing a bag with no particular provenance - such had been featured above, although I would say that some of the deep staining (and who knows what caused this), would probably never come out. I agree however; it may well smell sweeter!

David     

[peregrinvs]

Just to echo Granville’s comments. An awful lot of these webbing packs and haversacks have survived because they were sold off as surplus after the war and were repurposed by civilians. (Which is why sadly many of them have tabs and buckles removed to make them more user friendly) I would also be unsurprised if many of them were unissued prior to being sold and so they have no service history. Hence I am not generally sentimental about dirt / dust and don’t generally have a problem with intelligent / sympathetic cleaning.

 

Although there are exceptions...

 

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C113867

[morrisc8]

The large pack has seen some service and not left in a QM store and it came from germany.

[battle of loos]

good mornng,

 

for my part, I cleaned my webb equipment under hot water with Marseille soap (neutral) and a brush to remove dirt.
on the other hand you have a tip for cleaning the buckles & loops.

 

here's a small pack found at the "Braderie de Lille" :

 

 

 

thank's for your answer.

 

regards

 

michel

 

[Matlock1418]

On 10/04/2018 at 21:09, GRANVILLE said:

Interested to read of anyone's experience of cleaning original webbing - by cleaning I don't mean blancoing it. I've a collection of unissued 1908 pattern and have just added a rather nice haversack to it. This has marks consummate with it's age - some might call it 'grubbiness' and I am considering giving it a wash - hand or possibly machine.

Machine = No!!!

 

I have some clothing / equipment with blood on it - never cleaned it out of respect for the poor lad who shed it.

Should I for archival / conservation purposes?

And if so, how?

[morrisc8]

 

 DO  NOT DO THIS AS IT IS A RISK . When i was in the ACF we used to scrub the 37 webbing we had and blanco it. I will give it a clean and put the photos up here, first i gave the small rust spots a little dab with white vinegar and lemon with a matchstick to make it show less , then i put in the sink to soak in warm water, then give it a light scrub with a scrubbing brush to see how it stands up to it. i did a small part of the backpack first just to see if it was ok first. I did try a little bit of vanish stain remover on a bad stain as a test before it went in the sink. now it`s outside to dry. I will take photos when its dry.

  

[morrisc8]

I have just bought the belt to go with it dated 1918 and is clean so a cleaner pack would go well with it. Belt still in the post, will get it next week and i hope to buy some straps for it, will have a look on ebay.

[mark holden]

Nice Belt Waist Economy you have there.

 

see here for fuller explanation.

 

http://www.karkeeweb.com/patterns/1908/1908_belts.html

 

All the best Mark

 

 

[morrisc8]

Thank you mark. here is the pack after the clean. I am happy with it , i have left some of it original as you can see its darker. But do not do this if you do not want to take the risk, my pack is strong and can take some scrubbing. The date mark is still good.

    Keith 

 

[GRANVILLE]

Personally, I would remove the length of rope between the tabs. This looks circa 1970s to me and has only been done to create a carry handle.

 

David

[morrisc8]

3 hours ago, GRANVILLE said:

Personally, I would remove the length of rope between the tabs. This looks circa 1970s to me and has only been done to create a carry handle.

 

David

Done . Have just bought  the 2inch brass buckles to fit. The large pack is now dry . Most of the marks and stains have faded or gone and so have the paint marks.

This will not suit everybody to do this and is a risk . Under the flap there is HN that the owner put in to ID his pack. Now the hunt is on to find more parts of the webbing kit that will not cost an arm and a leg.

  Keith

 

 

[GRANVILLE]

Looks much better for it in my opinion.

David

[morrisc8]

On 23/11/2019 at 09:11, battle of loos said:

good morning,

 

for my part, I cleaned my webb equipment under hot water with Marseille soap (neutral) and a brush to remove dirt.
on the other hand you have a tip for cleaning the buckles & loops.

 

here's a small pack found at the "Braderie de Lille" :

 

 

 

thank's for your answer.

 

regards

 

michel

 

 Do you have a tip for cleaning his  buckles & loops. Depends on what you want them to look like. I think i would just rub the buckles with a clean cloth and keep the dark colour and to get rid of the green.

You could use a button stick to protect the webbing.

 

Edited 25 November , 2019 by morrisc8

[battle of loos]

good morning,

 

green buckles are well oxidized.

 

michel

[morrisc8]

I found this on the internet, there are more you can find. I think it is a risk as you may get some on the webbing.

https://www.thespruce.com/copper-and-brass-tarnish-remover-1387940

 

https://www.littlehouseonthecorner.com/ultimate-guide-how-to-clean-brass/

Edited 25 November , 2019 by morrisc8

[morrisc8]

Here is a link to the 1908 webbing and how to clean

http://www.karkeeweb.com/patterns/1908/manuals/1913_08_fi_small.pdf

[Matlock1418]

1 hour ago, morrisc8 said:

Here is a link to the 1908 webbing and how to clean

Cracking link - page 11 seems to fit the bill [with exception of what is a approved cleaner/cleaning agent]

Many thanks

[battle of loos]

magnificent

 

thank you for this information.

 

michel

[morrisc8]

 Blanco, anyone tryed to get it off or make it a lighter colour on webbing.