No good belt needs any posts along the sides to make it run straight and stay on the pulleys. If the pulleys are in line and the belt straight, it will run straight. All belts should be made to run perfectly straight on pulleys, first on account of the local advertisement that it gives to the man who has charge of them; second, if they do not run true, they will be on the floor or wrapped around the shaft in a very few minutes, should they ever slip. Another very important thing in the care of belts that carry heavy loads is that if any of the points do come loose so far back that they will not return to place without putting on the clamps, put them on by all means; as the restoring of this point to place means that you will still retain in service all of your belt, as you will not do if you glue it down where it is and thereby cut one side completely out of service.
We submit the following as the best and proper way of cleaning a leather belt. It may seem simple, but it is safe and effective, as has been proved by many people who have thus restored old and dirty belting which had become almost or quite unfit for use.
Coil the belt loosely and place it on edge in a tank in which it may be covered with naphtha; a half barrel makes a good receptacle, but something with a tight cover would save the loss by evaporation. Put in enough naphtha to cover the belt completely and allow it to remain for ten or twelve hours; then turn the belt over, standing it upon the other edge. The vertical position of the belt surfaces allows the dirt to settle to the bottom of the receptacle as it is washed out, and permits naphtha to get at all the parts.
After the belt has remained in the naphtha another ten or twelve hours, or until sufficiently clean, raise it and allow the naphtha to drip back into the tank. Then lay the belt flat, stretching or shaking it until almost dry. You will find that the naphtha will not affect the leather nor the cement in the center of the belt, but may open the joints at the edges; in which case the old cement should be scraped off and the edges recemented. Your belt man will know how to do this. The belt will now be somewhat hard, and should be treated with a reliable belt dressing before being replaced on the pulleys.