One of the common questions we receive is "How do I take care of my new belt and should I treat it with anything?". The great thing about buying a quality leather gun belt is there is very little you need to do to it to get years and years of use from your belt! Let's read on to see just how easy it is.

Keep It Dry 
The biggest threat to any leather belt is repeated wet and dry. If your belt gets wet, you must not accelerate the drying process and allow the belt to dry naturally on its own. This means no using hair dryers or placing over a heat source. This can dry out the leather and leave it hard and brittle. Instead, hang your belt in an open area of room temperature and allow it to dry on its own. Once dry then just put on and use. Your body heat in most cases will re-soften the leather, and you will be good to go! In the rare case the belt becomes excessively hard you can apply a coat of our belt dressing to facilitate in softening the leather, just don't overdo it, or you can make the belt soft.

Hanks Belt Dressing

Handle Scuffs and Scrapes
As you wear your belt, it will develop scuffs and scratches as part of everyday use. In most cases, we believe this just adds to the character of a Full Grain leather belt. If you would like to touch these up though a light application of our belt dressing, rubbed in with your fingers, will usually blend them in nicely.



In extreme cases such as if you damage the finish to a depth that the color does not blend in you can purchase a jar of Shoe Polish that most closely matches your belts color. Then very SPARINGLY apply this to the affected area and rub until it blends in. We recommend allowing the belt to sit overnight and then vigorously rub the area you applied the polish to with a cloth to remove excess color. If you do this use caution as this can allow the color to bleed over and contaminate your clothing.

Storing Your Belt
If you're ever not going to wear your belt for an extended period, store in an upstairs living space. Do not store leather clothing in an attic, basement, or unheated area. Leather is susceptible to mold in damp basement areas and drying and cracking in hot areas like an attic.

I Get My Belts Wet!
If you do work or use your belt in an environment where repeated wet and dry cycles are just a fact of life take a look at our Old World Harness Belt. The Harness leather we use in this belt is specifically designed to resist moisture. Though not magic it will hold up the best in wet environments.

Wrap up
So in closing just follow the simple steps above, and you will find your Hanks Belt will give you years of enjoyment.

The best advice we can give for longest life?
Just wear it! Leather loves to be used and the worst thing for it is sitting unused in a box somewhere! Put it on, show it off, and enjoy!