It's good to see that Pat DeWitt is enjoying familiar success with
Hydrophane [060209 MMDigest].  Where lifter discs are fitted, make
sure they are firmly attached or reattached with normal hide glue
before wicking the Hydrophane onto the pouches with a small artist's
brush.  There's no need to paint it all round a pouch if accessibility
is restricted: it will gradually soak through and round the whole
pouch, including under the disc, but will not affect the glue bond
or the disc card.

Usually two applications of Hydrophane an hour or so apart are a good
idea.  The quantity isn't critical providing the pouches all go
uniformly dark but are not flooded.  You can check for airtightness and
even encourage the Hydrophane to permeate the pouch leather by sucking
on the pouch nipple.

Hide glue will actually attach discs strongly to previously Hydrophaned
pouches after it has fully soaked in for a week or two, but it's easier
to clean any surface Hydrophane off the leather with a simple solvent,
reglue the disc and then reapply Hydrophane after it's set and dry.

Patrick Handscombe
Wivenhoe, Essex, UK