Conservatory Cleaning - Page 7

I very rarely use polish, perhaps one in 30 helmets; and only if the leather is faded and grey. In most cases, cleaning off the dirt and a slight surface polishing with a soft cloth as shown on page 6, is all the helmet will require to bring it back to its original lustre.

In this case, this helmet had been exposed to direct sunlight at some time and the surface lacquer had faded considerably; it was more grey than black and looked awful. A good quality black shoe polish is applied by brush, then shone with a soft shoe shine brush. There is a debate when it comes to applying a polish to old leather. A product called "Renaissance Wax" or beeswax- based polishes do not contain solvents and are advocated by some. However, the goal here is to lightly polish the leather skull for which you need only a tiny amount of polish. I have had no problem at all using a good quality shoe polish in very small amounts. Finally, this is lightly polished with a soft, clean cloth.