Utility belt cleaning

[Batfanman]

What do my fellow caped crime-fighters use to clean light scuffs and soil from their leather utility belts?

[rickrickrick]

Honestly, I don't worry too much about it. I did at first, because it was new and I wanted to keep it spotless - but frankly, since everything on the show got so beat up, my personal opinion is that the more "seasoned" a belt gets, the more authentic it looks. I had a couple of honest-to-gosh dings in my "stunt" utility belt's rods and belt boxes, which are just painted wood, and I touched them up with paint. I am nervous about doing much of anything to the belt itself, since it is painted with leather paint, and I don't want to mar that finish with some kind of chemical cleaner. I suppose if I thought it was really bad, I'd try a damp cloth. One little tip I learned about painted surfaces - if it's a small dark scuff, like something dark hit it, a clean pencil eraser can be a good, mild abrasive for cleaning it off.

On my daughter's Batgirl belt, the belt boxes are covered with vinyl, and I found a Clorox wipe worked extremely well to get grime off.

RRR

[Grayvette03]

Skin So Soft from Avon, works great on the vinyl & I use it on my brass. I still will use Brasso on the buckle every now and then but have never had an issue using the Avon product.

[Batfanman]

In regards to the buckle, mine is shiny brass that hasn't been lacquered. If I were to lacquer it, does anyone know what I should use - gloss or matte lacquer?

The reason I ask is that some buckles, like Chuck Williams' have a dimmer finish and I'm wondering if it's the lacquer that creates that look or is it the result of how it was made?

[Chuck Williams]

The buckles I make are more matte due to a finishing process. Not something sprayed on.
Even though it's matte, it's still polished. and does have some reflectivity.

If you have a lacquered buckle , Pledge polish will remove smudges . The fellow that works on brass musical instruments and soldered my first buckles recommended that to me.

NEVER use Brasso or any solvent on a lacquered buckle or you'll damage the finish.

You can use a matte lacquer on top of polished brass but that will give you a very matte, non reflective finish.
You can also use 0000 steel wool to do a scratch finish to dull it down.

[Batfanman]

Thanks, Chuck, much appreciated info. I think I'll use the gloss lacquer - sounds like the finish a matte lacquer would give may not look the greatest. One more question, I plan on polishing the buckle up a bit before applying lacquer - can I do this right after polishing or should I wait for a period afterwards?

[Chuck Williams]

Use a small amount of polish and let it rest for a bit after.

I use a solvent to wipe the metal down prior to spraying to remove any grease or wax.