How do you apply Blanco?

well i did all the above (see last post) with about a third of a block, it looks a bit olive green, but to be honest if it was issued it was used. whats the problem?.......... i think we are getting into weekend warrior territory here, our stuff gets used a few times a quarter if we are lucky, in war it was used everyday in every situation and condition it got more weathered in a week than ours does in a year, its going to look different.

Steve... I'm willing to be persuaded and you're doing a pretty good job of it...

Nige, what concerns me is not that the waxy stuff looks too worn in, quite the opposite in fact, it usually looks way too dark. Crayola just about sums it up! Nice one Gadge!

If you look at most of my webbing you'll find its so faded that its almost back to raw webbing anyway... that's cos I don't put much on and most bits have been through a fair amount of use by me...

thats my aim yith,,,, my webbing is all from different places and all different colours, i want to get it a uniform green, then get it to look, genuine, if its dark i can just leave it out to fade , if its light i can add more. my webbing is between a dark olive and a nasty mustard yellow. ( or it was, now its uniform green)

I've just noticed, last two pictures, that chap looks like he's blanco'd his chin strap and rifle sling as well. How interesting!

I hate to bring it up but WW2 colour photos are not a reliable source for matching one colour to another or making crytical judgements. Look at the range of shade for the Bd, one looks almost grey.
We all know there are are range of shades for khaki that is evident in the 5th picture but the photos stretch that to the unlikely. Dont get too hung up on matching to period colour shots especially those viewed on a computer screen.
To be honest you have better things to do than get fussy about the exact shade of KG3. leave that to re-enactors and they cant get it right or agree.

I hate to bring it up but WW2 colour photos are not a reliable source for matching one colour to another or making crytical judgements. Look at the range of shade for the Bd, one looks almost grey.
We all know there are are range of shades for khaki that is evident in the 5th picture but the photos stretch that to the unlikely. Dont get too hung up on matching to period colour shots especially those viewed on a computer screen.
To be honest you have better things to do than get fussy about the exact shade of KG3. leave that to re-enactors and they cant get it right or agree.

Is the above a re-enactor telling an Airsofter to 'turn it down' with regards to authenticity?

Never thought I'd see the day - we're normally seen as - to be polite ' not in the same league'

Re-enactor and airsofter please.
To be honest if you are worried about authenticity there are other issues to be addressed before you all get too hung up on the exact shade of KG3.

I hate to bring it up but WW2 colour photos are not a reliable source for matching one colour to another or making crytical judgements. Look at the range of shade for the Bd, one looks almost grey.
We all know there are are range of shades for khaki that is evident in the 5th picture but the photos stretch that to the unlikely. Dont get too hung up on matching to period colour shots especially those viewed on a computer screen.
To be honest you have better things to do than get fussy about the exact shade of KG3. leave that to re-enactors and they cant get it right or agree.

I'd put my images together some time back as part of a re-enactors debate elsewhere as to whether or not waxy block had been used in late 44 or 45 (i'm not convinced it wasn't but can't convince that it was). I'd put them up here not to be prescriptive but as what I'd hoped would be a helpful reference (they are the best images from the IWM interactive library). Anyways, loathe to cause offence I've now removed the links.

i have dicovered a way to get waxy blanco out of webbing, its like magic. oxy action powder. strips it right off without any hard work or trouble. now to re-blanco the 2 bits that dried patchy.

New Magic-Oxy-Action-Bio-Blanco-Intelligence-Stain-Remover...

i have dicovered a way to get waxy blanco out of webbing, its like magic. oxy action powder. strips it right off without any hard work or trouble. now to re-blanco the 2 bits that dried patchy.

That's interesting - I guess it gets under the surface and forces it off, unlike scrubbing which just smears it in!

it works a treat,,,, the problem i am having is that i do 2 bits of kit exactly the same method, exactly the same amount of blanco, and it dries 2 different colours( if it was only a slight difference in shade i would be ok with it, but its not, its a massive difference) . got one full set done nicely, the other set is becomeing a pain and i am showing signs of basil fawltyism.

I have the same problem with a pistol holster. It just refuses to look the right colour regardless of how much I blanco it (5 attempts and counting). I'm beginning to suspect the material is a snthetic mix

All interesting... Since we're on the subject. My father-in-law finally found his belt from when he did his national service also in the 50s and in Cyprus mostly.

Anyway, the belt is actually blancoed in a sand colour. And the blanco is definitely the powdery type. It had so much on it, I still managed to end up with some on my clothes.

He arrived just after the war had finished in Cyprus so didn't see any action.

He said the belt was all he was allowed to keep.

To confuse matters even more:

My dad did his national service in the mid '50s and recalls the RAF blue blanco as being soft, similar to shoe polish and coming in a round tin. They were taught to apply it with a nailbrush. Their corporal had told them that their webbing had been designed by Lady Astor and if they found it too awkward to assemble then they should forward their complaints to her

No confusion, well documented by your own C-W;
http://www.blancoandwebbing.co.uk/blanc ... blue-grey/

There you go then.

Not really trivia though, trivia is based on fact. This is only based on an opinion, without any supporting evidence.
It's not a bad idea, it just needs some backing up.
Though you would hardly call the UK and Western Europe arid?
1948 seems to have been a year of change in the Blanco world, certainly for Pickerings.
I have dated samples from '48 that show new colours and changes to existing colours. Quite possible the wax block came in around this time. Never seen it attributed to Pickerings though.
Pickerings dealt direct with the NAAFI on subjects like colour and quality.

Blanco copyright? I don't think that's right. Did you mean trademark? BLANCO is a registered trademark to a German kitchen sink manufacturer and has been since 1987 or earlier.
I can't find any documentary evidence for an association between Sarah Lee Corporation and Blanco and I would be interested in further information.

Off topic, but if you are into shoe polishing then bugger Kiwi - the Cherry Blossom shoecare range is manufactured in Alfreton, Derbyshire and Cherry Blossom is the original, and now, the only shoecare brand manufactured in Great Britain. It is the last remaining link of what was Pickering's 'Blanco' competitors (Nugget & Cobra having been swallowed up in succession company amalgamations over the years). Buy British!