Swiss REX or FIX Leather Wax, Surplus

Good ol’ Swiss Military Riemenwachs, i.e. strap wax. This is the magical stuff behind Swiss leather gear being as soft and supple as a puppy's bum. REX or FIX brand, same stuff anyway.

Features

This leather care product is stored in a cardboard wrapper, the size of a biggish matchbox. They must have spent a fortune on just the magnificent graphic design alone. There can be several colors of wax in this batch, from yellow to red, but the color shouldn’t have an effect on the leather.

We have no clue what’s in this thing. If you stick to the original intended use, you should be quite safe but don’t rub this in your eyes or weenie. And don’t use it as lube or a protein bar, and the possible troglodyte in it won’t cause anything peculiar.

Use

This was originally designed for maintaining and protecting leather slings, belts, pack straps, and other military leather products but it is perfectly suited for civilian leather gear as well. It will also make the leather somewhat water-resistant. However, it won't make your leather thong suitable for bog snorkeling. The wrapper has instructions printed in the beauty and beast of modern languages: French and German. If you don’t speak either one, here’s how you use this stuff in English.

You can use this wax in two ways depending on the condition of the leather. If it only needs a mild treatment, rub the wax onto the outside of the leather and polish vigorously with a (clean) rag. The leather should be dry before the treatment. This treatment shouldn’t color the leather. If the leather is in quite a shitty condition, rub craploads of wax on and melt it with a hairdryer. This will darken the leather to some extent and eats a helluva lot of wax. And it won't reanimate a completely dead item.

Condition

These are unissued Swiss military surplus. So, the wax is unused but the wrappers can be a bit worn in storage. It is also possible that the wax stick has snapped in two during storage but both bits are usable.