M15 CLEANING AND STABILIZATION

F

Foxdoublegunner

New member
Gentlemen,
I am about to display my newly acquired Baden M15 and would like advice on cleaning the inside and outside and stabilizing the metal portions which have some light surface rust. The goal is to make sure that the leather shell does not deteriorate and that the metal doesn't become further tarnished. What is the recommended process?

Thank you,
Ricardo
 
Gentlemen,
Below is a link with pictures for the M15 in question. Any suggestions for cleaning and preservation are appreciated. I have found info for the 1895 and older models but not much for the M15.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-WWI-Baden-M15-J-R-111-1915-Enlisted-Pickelhaube-/291325104078?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43d4544fce" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards,
Ricardo
 
Sir,
I understand and appreciate your point of view however, I wish to do some very minimal cleaning of years of built up dirt/dust etc and would like to know what is the best approach to take without causing any damage. If appropriate I would also like to know about proper preservatives for the leather shell and steel Wappen to arrest any oxidation and decay. Some have said that Connoly's hide food works well with holsters of the same vintage. Is that the prevailing thought for pickelhaube?

Thank you,
Ricardo
 
I agree, leave as is but if you insist on cleaning I would recommend to read the following:

http://www.kaisersbunker.com/preservation/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards,

Edwin
 
Edwin,
Thank you for the link. It was informative.
I assume that you think that my M15 as pictured in the link which I provided earlier is in presentable condition and not in need of any special maintenance/ preservation actions other than climate control. Is that correct?

Regards,
Ricardo
 
Foxdoublegunner said:
Edwin,
Thank you for the link. It was informative.
I assume that you think that my M15 as pictured in the link which I provided earlier is in presentable condition and not in need of any special maintenance/ preservation actions other than climate control. Is that correct?

Regards,
Ricardo
Click to expand...

Bingo! :)
 
Okay!
What part of Latvia do you live in? I had the opportunity of traveling to Riga back in June 1999 on a training mission. It was a very memorable visit and I found the people very friendly.

Regards,
Ricardo
 
I'd stay away from leather 'preservatives' and just give it a light dusting / clean with a soft rag. I've done the same for light rust on wappen and it works well, the loose rust will fall away and the more stubborn will stay, but yours looks pretty good overall. I will only be agressive at removing rust when it looks as if it's doing a lot of damage. Otherwise, it stays. Kaiser's Bunker is always a great source and Tony has been a great help to all of us. My rule of thumb is less is often more and one cleaning is all I give a helmet.

:D Ron
 
Thank you for all of your suggestions. That is the approach which I will take as I do not desire to disturb or reverse the present condition which "tells a story" and only wish to stabilize and preserve. Aside from a couple of minor missing pieces which I think that I will eventually be able to track down, I am pretty happy with the picklehaube.
Does anyone have a source for a missing spine nut or a Baden cockade?
 
Foxdoublegunner said:
Does anyone have a source for a missing spine nut or a Baden cockade?
Click to expand...

Ebay is a good source for parts but it might take a while before you get all the parts you want. Age of kings also sells some authentic parts. See the link below:

http://www.ageofkingsmilitaria.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards,

Edwin
 
For cleaning the inside of the shell, I just use some dish soap, a sponge and warm water. If you have the proper attachment you could vacuum out the inside. For leather treatment I use Lexol both the cleaner and preservative....NEVER NEATS FOOT OIL of any kind. I only use this on liners which have really dried out and hardened like the Saxon OR I just finished restoring. If the liner is flexible and in relatively good shape, I leave it as is. On stahlhelme or metal hauben I keep a ball of rolled up bubble wrap up in the shell to keep the liner fingers vertical. I got this idea from Tony S, he feels that the weight of the fingers/liner cushions pulling down over time tends to split the liner along the rim of the helmet. This makes sense to me so and its no big deal so that's what I do.
If I were going to remove rust which I have on my M15 Kurassier helme I used fine steel wool and a rust remover product...all by hand and repeated applications. I even gave Brasso a try. This was all done many years ago, today I would try Evapo Rust on it...carefully I might add.
To stabilize a cleaned rusted area, I might use a light coating of vaseline or even a similar coat of neutral shoe polish to put a bit of wax on the area. These are suggestions, I have not had to do them as my M15 has shown no reappearance of rust.
 
I think Renaissance Wax would be useful on cleaned metal also. I know it works well on my SA dagger blade...
 
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