I am currently repairing an old case (age unknown) and want to refinish it. I have removed all the old labels hence the refinishing
I have a few ideas (black shoe polish, redyeing, spray can paint) but would value others input.
Edited by - banjonz on 08/27/2026 15:56:33
I have used rubberized truck bed liner and/or vehicle undercoating to touch up tears and edges. I dab it on the exposed edge or hole/tear with my fingers rather than spraying it on. Looks just okay. Entire recoats seam to look and feel grainy. I have stained cases like yours with black shoe polish just to even out the color and they have turned out pretty good. Spray paint on the other hand is noticeably different looking. Try spray paint last.
I did a total restore of a basket case mandolin case, and used black shoe polish to good effect.
I use Speedkote T-Rex roll on bed liner on the mini wooden cases that I build. I spray the case first with spray paint, lightly sand and roll on the liner. You can get it low gloss or gloss black, white, and tint able. I don't know if it would work for your case or not. It's available on eBay and Amazon.
I had an OME banjo case years ago that when the covering started tearing, I just peeled it all off, exposing pretty decent looking plywood. So I just sanded it down and stained it deep red then several polyurethane overcoats. It looked cool and lasted me for years. Sold it on eBay for $75, I think.
You'll want to get rid of all that residue adhesive from the labels on your case. WD 40 is a good material to facilitate removal of adhesive. Just clean the WD 40 up ONE HUNDRED PERCENT, or paint/shoe polish might not stick to the surface.
That looks like a nice old case.
Zippo lighter fluid (naphtha) is also great for removing sticker residue
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