UBB.threads Forums General Interest Restoration, Conservation, and Maintenance Forum 2nd Lw dagger cleaning advice seeked

Hello friends,
I recently bought my first Luftwaffe dagger.I would like to poli**** up a bit and need some advice. The blade is perfect so nothing needed here. but the crossguard and scabbared has a bit of patina which I would like to clean a bit. Also the handle, which is white has asmall dent ad the wire is rusty. How do I clean that off? Do I have to take the Handle of and the wire off?
Any advice would be apreciated.
Thanks Dirk
PS is there a ook about this topic?

I would suggest a small toothbrush and some warm water with a drop of dish washing liquid in it first. Gently scrub the areas needed and be sure to dry the areas after. I use a soft cotton cloth and then blow with a hair dryer on a warm but not high setting. Others may chime in with more details but this is what I would try first.

Those 2nd Luft scabbards are supposed to be dark and not shined up. Keep that in mind as you may ruin the value if you take the backround darkness off with any heavy cleaning. I would remove the rust with a soft No. 2 lead pencil, rub the rust easy and then just rub the rest of the scabbard gently all over carefully several times with a old towel. That's really all you need to do.

Mark

Hey Mark,

Good advice....I like the old towel rubbing method (or an old T shirt re: 'Bernie Fondle'....In fact I like it on 'me' as well as my daggers ...

Heh Heh

Here's an army I screwed up on a number of years ago. Attempted to use a silcon cleaning agent that has a mild abrasive which will remove fine crossgraining on certain daggers. If you look closely, you can see the difference between the circled spot and the rest of the blade. Just be careful when cleaning the blade. Some mistakes cannot be undone.