Jan - No saddle soap or oils ever on historic leather objects! What is best to do depends on the condition of the leather and the type of leather (smooth or suede? Dyed?). When I was the head of objects conservation at the Rocky Mountain Conservation Center at The University of Denver I got to treat several early baseball gloves from the 1900 - 1920 period. These were in very good condition so just some soiling needed to be reduced. This can be tricky because you want to keep signs of wear and use and yet have a clean appearance. I had two gloves that were smooth with dyed leathers and one with a suede napped surface. Each required different approaches and treatments. If a leather object is very dessicated and brittle then that can pose significant issues for cleaning as well as handling. It would be helpful to know where they came from and how that may have happened. If a dessicated leather object is deformed sometimes it can be re-humidified in order to carefully restore the shape - acid free tissue can be stuffed inside to maintain the shape - and then the humidity is slowly brought down to match the current storage / exhibit environment. This is usually done on archaeological leather artifacts. And it requires laboratory treatment. So my best advice is to seek the advice of an objects conservator who is experienced in leather treatments to examine the gloves and give you advice on what is possible for you to do and what will require the skills of a conservator. You can go to the AIC (American Institute for Conservation) web site and follow their link FIND A CONSERVATOR where you can do a search for objects conservators in your area. Most conservators will do an initial examination and consultant for a reasonable fee. http://www.conservation-us.org/ Cheers! Dave David Harvey Senior Conservator and Museum Consultant Los Angeles CA * Minding The Museum*: The Museum and Conservation Podcast www.mindingthemuseum.com (also on Facebook) On Tue, Apr 27, 2010 at 11:41 AM, Jan McCormick <[log in to unmask]>wrote: > Greetings: > > I have received a box of old baseball gloves that I have to clean and > store. One is extremely dry - an old little league glove. I was told to use > saddle soap, but fear the "animal fat" will do more harm. I have read that > petroleum products are good for gloves and that they are bad. I appreciate > any and all help! > > I thank you in advance, > Jan McCormick > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message > to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).