I take my lead from museums.

A cousin worked for the Milwaukee County museum when I lived there in the late 1960's and he introduced me to what we call "conservators" today. I was already collecting daggers and wanted to understand their strategy. Paraphrasing, it was to keep the item looking as if it was not deteriorated by poor storage. Signs of genuine wear through use were preserved. Items were cleaned but not what we call polished. Leather and wood were treated to prevent rot, drying out, discoloration. Since then, I have looked at weapons in many museums like the Smithsonian, Hotel des Invalides in Paris, the Imperial War Museum, etc etc.

Therefore I remove leather vertical hangers from my SS daggers, remove any verdegris, apply wax, and store them off the dagger. Other leather like short hangers or belt loops get wax, too. I also use wax on SA/SS grips. I clean blades by repeated light coats of Renwax. Scabbard shells, crossguards too.

Dave