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Holster Care and Maintenance

A guy taking showing his leather holster A guy taking showing his leather holster A guy taking showing his leather holster


Taking care of your holsters

The question of the day is: "Why should I take care of my holster?". I'll answer with another question: "Do you take care of your gun?" And I bet your answer is positive. You take care of your gun because you want it to protect you and your loved ones as well as possible. And that's exactly why you should take care of your holster too. You want your gun to be protected. This is possible only if you take good care of your holster and perform its regular maintenance.


How to perform holster care &. maintenance

It’s recommended to clean and care for the outer part of the holster, the inside of the holster should be cleaned only if the objects or dirt are hindering a safe gun draw. The gun itself will shape the interior and doesn’t need any other interventions.


Years of wear and harsh environments may lead to scratches on your holster. Some may take it as battle scars and some want to remove them. So in case you want to remove them read more. Identify the type of the scratch before you get to the point of removal.

  • A minor scratch means that only the coating was harmed and the leather beneath is not harmed. This is the best case.
  • A deeper scratch means that the leather beneath the coating was harmed. The leather fibers may be visible. This is worse than the first one but can be fixed.
  • A cut through the leather is the worst part, it goes through the whole holster and a part of the gun is visible. This is the worst part which is non-repairable, but don’t worry, if you are in warranty it’s all ok, just contact us here.


Removing minor scratches is relatively easy work and  you’ll get used to it if they repeat themselves. You will probably deal with minor scratches most of the times, they are the easiest to repair. The leather ‘heals’ itself in most of the cases so you don’t have to worry about it being unpleasant to the eye.


Rub some olive oil, baby oil or saddle oil into the scratch. Apply it directly with a cotton-swab applicator or a Q-tip by rubbing it into the scratch. Apply some of the oil also around in a circular motion. Let it rest for an hour then dry it and wipe it with a cloth. If it isn’t repaired on the first try, repeat it. Also please note, that leather absorbs the oil and may become slightly darker.


Apply lanolin to the scratch and rub it around with a cloth, possibly a cotton one. Rub it across the scratched area, perpendicular to the direction of the cut. This is a lengthy process and will take more time before the scratch disappears. Please note that lanolin also may change the color tone of the holster so rub it firstly on some older leather holster or to an area which isn’t visible.


Apply shoe polish with a matching color to the surface scratch of the holster. Apply it firstly with a clean cloth or a cotton-swab applicator directly to the scratch on the surface. Then rub the shoe polish onto the leather and remove it with a clean cloth afterwards. Please note that this process won’t heal the scratches, but it disguises them. If you didn’t match the colors at first just remove the applied polish, clean the holster, dry it and apply another layer with a better color tone.


Deeper scratches may take a little longer to ‘heal’ but the leather and holster functionality won’t be affected in any way. Note that the scratch won't be repaired and healed competely, the scratch wil remain visible because the very fiber of the leather beneath the finish was damaged. These scratches are just taken care of with the method below to the point of not spreading or affecting the functionality of the holster.


Apply rubbing alcohol to the scratch. Be sure to clean the leather before applying the alcohol to maximize the effects of it. Rubbing alcohol dries quickly, so you can repeat the process each 10-15 minutes to achieve your desired look.


Holster break-in

If your holster is brand new, you won't have to perform its maintenance anytime soon. However, it might ocassionally happen that your new holster doesn't come with a glove-like fit straight out of the box. If this happens, don't panic, but follow our leather holsters break-in guide. Just watch the following video. If you want to know how to break in your new holster, you can read our comprehensive break-in guide here.


We care about your holsters too

If you regularly take care of your holster and perform proper maintenance, it will serve you well for many years. After all, our holsters are meant to last a lifetime. Holster care and maintenance aren't complicated and you will definitely manage them on your own if you follow our instructions. But if you ever need help with either break-in or maintenance of your holsters, feel free to contact our customer service. You take care of your holster, we take care of you.