Janet Montgomery & Dan Veilleux wrote:
>
> Does anyone have any words of wisdom on cleaning propolis
> from leather gloves?
 
First off I don't usually wear gloves unless the bees get testy, which can normally be avoided by employing some simple handling techniques. I don't bother trying to get every bit propolis off my leather gloves. However I do wash them with my hands inside, in plain water to get the honey and most of the stickies off. But repeated washings will dry out the leather. A problem, that I found the ideal solution to: after washing them in plain water I carefully distribute about 1 teaspoon of pure Petroleum Jelly, like Vaseline, on them and rub into leather and let dry naturally without excess heat. This treatment makes the leather feel so nice it's amazing.
 
I got this idea from a Dr. Dean Edell radio broadcast on KGO-AM,810 in San Francisco, CA. Dr. Edell said that the absolute best skin moisturizer was the above applied to wet skin. Now before you say YAK! that greasy stuff all over my body! Let me be the first to tell you it works great. Try this: when your skin is wet from the shower, don't towel off, just brush off some of the excess water with your hands, then apply enough Petroleum Jelly to evenly distribute it all over the body. Your right, it does feel greasy going on but as you rub it in, the excess moisture evaporates leaving your skin feeling soft smooth and moisturized so nice, and when it's cold you actually feel warmer too. This cheep treatment also lasts much longer than regular skin moisturizers. The problem with almost all moisturizers is that they use emulsifiers (like soap) to suspend oil in water. After applying these emulsifiers to your skin the next time you wash, the oils, natural and otherwise strip away leaving your skin drier than ever. If you apply too much Petroleum Jelly you can remain greasy. But I found that if you use just enough to get it on evenly by first smearing into hands then distribute to body parts with a lite patting action before beginning the massage it works very well. Enjoy!
 
        -              Stan Umlauft
       "  `            A & Bee Honey Farms
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