Cleaning up a Russian M31 back pack

[EMSMIT2]

Hi,

I recently got this Russian M1938 back pack off the Estand. It is in good condition overall, but it needs some cleaning as it is pretty filthy. It looks like it spent the better part of sixty years in an old barn. Cleaning the stains off the canvas may not be much of a problem, but getting the rust off the metal grommets is going to be tricky. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Eddie

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[Ivo Wilms]

It's difficult to clean such items.
But you can try something I did on a German breadbag.

Let it soak in a tob of hot water and repeat this several times until the water doesn't turn black anymore. Use some clothespins to keep the leather parts in the position you want then. And finally, let it dry. But do this with care! So don't hang it outside, exposed to the sun, but put it somewhere in your garage or any place like that. Anyway, a place which isn't too dry. It needs to dry slowely, if you know what I mean.

There's not much you can do on the metal grommets. After you're done with the water you could rub off as much rust as you can with an old towl or something. But removing the rust for a full 100% is impossible.

[Military]

what i did was to full my bathtub full and adding some clothing detergent - a small cupfull. i left my bag for a while - depending on the dirtiness of your bag.

and then filled the bathtub again this time with clean water and soaked for an hour.

finally i let the bag rinse under fresh running water, lukewarm and the bag was left out in the sun to dry. in the evening, the bag was left next to my wall radiator.

good as new. be careful not to overwash. it all depends how dirty your bag is.
i added a very small amount of disinfectant to my wash as well.

[ChrisCook]

Pack

I had good results on a US backpack with Oxiclean, didn't affect the color at all in my case. As for rust on grommets...do you have a dremel tool? If so, use some of the small wire brushes and use light pressure, it will remove it, and is very controllable if you don't get in a hurry. Chris...

[EMSMIT2]

and then filled the bathtub again this time with clean water and soaked for an hour.

Would it be dangerous to let this backpack soak for longer than an hour? It really is filthy