Leather dressing

I have been given two beaded Plains bags to treat.  They both appear
to have been treated with some kind of leather dressing:  both the
beads and skins are sticky, and the skin is also shiny, and has a
somewhat translucent look.  Petroleum benzine removes a layer from
the beads, and I am wondering if it makes sense to try to remove at
least some of the dressing from the skin.  Any ideas?  Has anyone
done this and kept track of the behavior of the skin afterwards?

Barbara Appelbaum


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 15:47
                 Distributed: Thursday, January 3, 2002
                       Message Id: cdl-15-47-007
                                  ***