[Update ]** trunk restoration **[update ]

[u/JuiceNinjja]

UPDATE*****update****update

Previous post:https://www.reddit.com/r/restoration/comments/1hh39wh/can_anyone_give_me_advice_on_how_to_restore_this/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I started by cleaning the outside of the trunk. It seems I may have washed out some of the black color. Also, I found that the trunk might be leather and metal. It's hard to tell. If you have any suggestions on how I can bring back the natural black color without painting it, I would appreciate it.

Then I started cleaning the metal fixtures. I found that the fixtures are steel with nickel coating. I may have overdone the cleaning because it removed some rust. On the left half of the trunk, I used CLR and a steel brush, and that seemed to remove too much of the coating. On the right side, I used Russo's and a cloth, and that seemed to yield a better result. I also drilled out the screw and removed the rotting leather handle.

What do you think I should do next? Any suggestions on how I should proceed with the restoration?

[u/PorcupineShoelace]

Looking good! Its almost certainly made from vulcanized fiber. You can find a bunch of discussions about it online and its really quite durable.

Mine is almost the same as yours but was showing a lot of loosening of the fiber and was hard as a rock and starting to get brittle. I needed it pliable or it was going to disintegrate.

I did pretty much treat it like leather. I used saddle soap to get all the dirt & grime off the surfaces, then after it was dry I rubbed untold coats of mink oil into it. Now it really looks like leather and has softened up and is very waterproof again.

Others suggest Renaissance micro-crystaline wax over things which I love as a product to lock out oxygen, especially for clean metal but it just wasnt going to nourish things the way I wanted.

Anytime you acid-treat metal (e.g. CLR) you are going to want to get a sealer on it pretty fast. Some go with WD-40, others Boeshield T-9, some polish with Flitz/Metal-Glo then Renaissance wax it.

Hope this helps some. My trunk came over with my family from Denmark on a ship so we did everything we could to have it last many more generations. Happy holidays.

[u/JuiceNinjja → u/PorcupineShoelace]

Thanks for the Advice. Based on what you advised I decided to go with the with the saddle soap to clean the volcanized fiber. I'm going to use angelus mink oil to restore the outside. will i need a sealant after that? Since I already have russo's to clean the metal parts, I will use the Renaissance wax to polish the metal fixtures. after that im going to sand down the wood on the inside any suggestions on what I should use to treat the wood after sanding? should I use tung oil or linseed oil or shellac primer or a combination of the 3?

[u/PorcupineShoelace → u/JuiceNinjja]

Hi JuiceNinjja. Want to let you know that when you soap & oil the fiber you will see some color come off on your rags. This concerned me at first but I found that especially when the mink oil was applied it darkened up and most of the sort of runny streaks that had been on mine vanished.

I read some online discussions about people using colored dye on their trunks and painting hardware and I just didnt like that look. Still, pick a spot on the back bottom corner, maybe a 4 inch square and test out each product first to get a feel for how much you need to apply and how it will look. As I mentioned mine was really really dried out and starting to warp. It took 3-5 coats of oil over a few applications to fully penetrate and soften up. I havent put any renaissance wax on the vulcanized fiber just the metal but if some gets on it shouldnt hurt anything.

The wood inside is up to you. Mine inside still has its original striped paper lining. Treatment might depend on what you keep inside the trunk.

[u/xtiaaneubaten]

Use a good waxy black boot polish to get the colour back, polish it on as you would a boot with a shoe brush. new handles