Care and Maintenance of Leather Holsters

Care and maintenance of a leather holster is very important to all CHL holders. Here are some tips to follow if you wear a leather holster, especially an IWB holster.

1. A new holster may be very tight when you receive it. If so, wrap your unloaded firearm in wax paper, saran wrap, or plastic bags and insert it into the holster. Remove it after a few seconds and check the fit. If it still needs loosened, leave the wrapped firearm inserted for longer, overnight if necessary. You can also add layers of wrap, to speed the process. Another method is to simply use the holster. Being leather, it will mold itself to your firearm over time with use.


2. If you desire to shine your leather products, use only a paste wax, such as kiwi in the flat cans. Buff to a shine. Never oil molded leather. It will soften the leather and take away retention.

3. Always remove your firearm from your holster when you aren’t wearing it. The leather needs to breath and any moisture that may have collected needs to evaporate.

4. Never allow your holster to be flattened. The molding procedure leaves the holster three dimensional and it needs to stay this way. If it becomes flattened at any point, you can expect it to
stay flattened.

5. If you need to remove your gun, for more than a brief moment, remove your holster from your body. Without your gun, your holster will be more apt to become flattened and lose its rigidity. This is especially important if you wear your belt cinched tight or anticipate sitting or bending over without
your gun in the holster.

6. If your holster becomes wet for any reason, remove it as soon as possible. Ensure the holster shape is maintained by pressing around your unloaded firearm. Carefully remove your firearm and gently set your holster aside to dry, under a fan, if possible (don’t forget to dry and oil your gun, rust
is ugly).

There are plenty of holster makers and all of them can be found on the internet. This gives you the opportunity to shop and compare. Also different gun forums have plenty of threads on different holster makers, models and styles.

Bob