First of all, I must include a disclaimer and state that the following procedures are those that I have developed and used over the years. They are not based on scientific or other facts. They are here to show the collector how I care for my artifacts but if you use them, use them at your own risk.

There are two trains of thought on the subject of cleaning. Some collectors advocate that the person who originally owned the artifact would have kept it clean and shiny and therefore do the same. Others say that it should reflect its age. This is a personal preference and depends on you. Just remember that if you shine it, it will take many years to lose that shine. And many collectors including myself prefer the "untouched" look.

Daggers and Swords

When I first started collecting and I got a new dagger, I would shine it. To me, shinier was better. Wash it, wax it, polish it, make it shine. I have since changed this outlook. Now when I acquire a new dagger, I inspect its condition thoroughly before doing anything. I seldom dismantle a dagger. If it has never been apart I leave it as is. If it resists being dismantled (for example, the pommel will not move with reasonable hand pressure), don't force it. NEVER use pliers to dismantle an artifact. For daggers like the Government Official and Red Cross Officer, make sure you have the right tool before proceeding. When reassembling it, remember not to over tighten. Loose is better than tight. This puts less pressure on wood or leather that might be prone to cracking.

If I do decide to dismantle it, once the handle is off, I inspect the tang and crossguards. Are there any interesting marks? I NEVER clean the tang as this is an accumulation of 60+ years of rust and dirt that just can't be duplicated. To me, this "oozes" authenticity.

I try not to remove any patina that may exist. To me, this gives it a rich "old" look. The fittings on my early Eickhorn army dagger are black. Other than a light buffing with a clean cloth, the handles of most daggers don't need much attention. I take a soft cloth and simply remove any dirt and finger prints from it, especially the metal parts. I don't shine the metal portions of the handle but just make sure they are free of finger prints and rust. Dull or yellowed SA/SS crossguards are beautiful.

That "green stuff" that you sometimes see on metal parts is corrosive. Gently clean it off metal parts, especially the blade.

The blade is the "heart" of any edged weapon. It should be cleaned with a non-abrasive polish such as Semi-Chrome. If there is surface rust on the blade, you may want to use a liquid rust remover such as CLR but read the instructions carefully before proceeding and be careful as this may also remove any darkening in the motto as could too much polishing. Less is better.

Many SA/SS daggers will have surface rust on their anodized scabbards. By surface rust, I mean light rust with little or no pitting. When cleaning this off, you want to make sure you don't remove any anodizing still remaining. For light surface rust, I take a clean soft cloth (an old towel or T-shirt is great), sit in front of the TV and just start "fondling" it with the cloth. I never met a guy who doesn't like fondling. Over a period of 4-5 evenings, most of the rust will be gone. This is a gradual process and you may not notice it happening. But sooner or later, the scabbard will be nice and smooth and have no more surface rust on it. This is what I did with the scabbard on my SS Klaas dagger.

The last thing I do before displaying it involves putting a coat of wax on the entire surface. I use furniture wax especially for wood which protects and dries clear. NEVER use car wax. It has chemicals in it that can harm old paint and leather. The furniture wax will protect it from finger prints and humidity. I don't oil the blade because this attracts dust and traps moisture between the blade and the oil which could cause rusting and pitting over long periods. While I'm on the subject, touching a naked blade will leave finger prints on it. The oil on your fingers contains acid that can mark a blade permanently over long periods of time. If you show it off to friends or other collectors, make sure to wipe it clean before putting it back in your display. I also never put the dagger back in its scabbard unless its to transport it. This reduces in and out wear on the blade.

Speaking of which, my RZM SS dagger required extreme effort to insert it into and extract it from the scabbard when I bought it form the vet's family. The noise and feel of this process gave me the impression that a nail or other sharp object was being dragged along the surface of the entire blade. I'm surprised that the blade was not marked by this in some fashion.

I wanted to fix this but did not quite know how. I thought of removing the screws from the top scabbard fitting, removing the scabbard inserts/sliders that appeared to be the cause of the problem and properly clean and lubricate them. I quickly rejected this idea as the screws had never been removed and I did not want to "bugger" them with a screw driver. I therefore decided never to reinsert the blade into the scabbard. But the problem kept haunting me. How could I fix this??

I then remembered reading somewhere that bee's wax was rubbed onto the scabbard sliders of early SS and SA daggers as a "lubricant". (I really don't know if this is true). So, I melted about a dozen drops of wax from a bee's wax candle onto the first 2-3 inches of both sides of the blade and, very carefully, slid it in and out of the scabbard a few times. Well, I guess some of the wax rubbed off onto the sliders as it now slides in and out nice and smooth, thank you very much.

Helmets

Again the first instinct for a new collector is to shine, shine, shine. But most helmets require little preserving since they were made for combat and are quite robust. Often, a vet acquired helmet will have dirt, cob webs and even dead insects inside the shell or liner. If the bugs bother you, remove them but I leave any dirt inside. As for the outside, a clean soft cloth to wipe off any surface dirt and finger prints is all that is needed. If there is any surface rust on it, keeping it in a dry place will help prevent further rusting. A few don'ts:

Don't wax your helmets. This gives them a shiny almost unnatural appearance. It's also interesting to note that the German Army gave strict orders that helmets were not to be waxed.

Don't oil your helmets. This will trap moisture between the shell and the oil and cause rusting. And more importantly, it will eat away at the paint and loosen decals. Nasty business here.

Repairs and Restoration

Sooner or later, you will come across an artifact that has been damaged in one way or another. Most often its a scabbard with a dent or bad paint job. Do you repair it or leave it alone? This depends on two things: the extent of the damage and your personal preference. If you owned a 1913 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost with a busted fender, would you have it repaired?

I recently picked up an M33 Klaas SS dagger that had the lower ball split and dented after someone dropped it. It was a clean split with no crushing but was quite wide. I thought about having it repaired for about three months. I finally decided to get it fixed. It is now hardly noticeable and looks much better.

In another case, I bought a HJ Leader's dagger that had very loose wire around the grip. Initially, I was going to leave it as is but the condition of the rest of the dagger was pristine and the loose wire detracted from its overall appearance. One night, I bit the bullet and decided to fix it myself. This is very risky and could have been a disaster if it was not done right. I didn't realize that there are about 15 feet of wire on the handle of a HJ Leader's dagger. Fortunately, after about an hour of blood, sweat and tears, my repair job turned out ok and the dagger looks great.I would not recommend this for the faint hearted.

A friend of mine picked up an almost mint chained SS dagger. It was in perfect condition except for the handle. The ebony was badly cracked and chipped. He had someone make another handle for him out of ebony and had the runes button and eagle inserted perfectly into the new handle. Its beautiful. He kept the old handle to show a potential new owner that it has been replaced.

Displaying your collection

More than any other topic, this is a personal preference based partially on how much room you have to display your collection. Some collectors live in apartments where space is at a premium and the "Space Fuhrer" (read "the wife") guards all space jealously. Others have the luxury of at least one room to use as they see fit.

Each dagger is framed in a display case with one or two accoutrements from the respective organisation, usually an eagle or badge. I find this compliments the dagger making it appear less "naked".

Last but not least, keep your metal collectibles in a dry place. Humidity causes rust.

Finally, my collection is housed in the "The Bunker", a room in the basement made of concrete with one heavy metal door with two deadbolt locks on it and a security alarm. What, me paranoid??

I am always eager to discuss any aspect of my collection or collecting in general with collectors and non collectors alike. Please feel free to e-mail me with any question or comment you care to make. This is a hobby, not a philosophy.