Ha! Didn't imagine there were so many ex-cadets! And now I can claim to be an authority on 'Webbing - belts and gaiters - procedures - for the cleaning of'! Pprune... the source of all knowledge, useful and otherwise!!
How weird, Stanwell, that 'dry polishing' was deemed to be unacceptable, presumably because it was a 'dodge' to having to do the prescribed blanco-ing every evening. It reminds me a little of the time, perhaps in about 1980, when I was rooting around on a disused RAF airfield (sadly I forget which one). One of the few remaining buildings was the Guardhouse. Of course, most of these remote ex-airfields have been largely turned-over to agriculture, and they're out of reach of those who might be inclined to vandalise or interfere with them.
Anyway, inside the Guardhouse were several items from when it was last used, which, judging by the flyer for the cinema, which featured 'The Man Who Never Was', must have been in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Also there, were a couple of Charge Sheets, identifying the miscreant and declaring his offence. One of them stayed in my memory. It was where a L/Cpl (The site must have been used by the Army before it closed), was charged with 'wearing weights'.
I couldn't imagine what this meant, so I later asked my father if he had any idea. He had no hesitation in explaining that this was the practice of wearing a string of lead weights in the bottom of the trousers, where they tucked into the gaiters. The effect of the weights was to pull the trousers tight from waist to ankle, thus showing the crease to advantage, there being no rucks along its length!
Thank goodness the Armed Forces moved on from those days of 'bull'. But I guess that was Conscription for you... the point where 'Discipline' stepped-in to banish any possible moment of idleness.
(A little like Pprune, of course!
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