Club Obi Wan

Well, keeping in mind that goatskin is naturally water resistant, a light coat was all you should have applied. That's why I use the jell and lotion instead....to feed and lubricate the leather and not add water proofing to an already resistant material. (grins) Regards. Michaelson

Michaelson wrote:Well, keeping in mind that goatskin is naturally water resistant, a light coat was all you should have applied. That's why I use the jell instead. (grins) Regards. Michaelson

My thoughts exactly, but with the rain, wet snow, and salt of this winter ( yes I wear it with a sweater) I needed to be sure that the jacket could take it. It's a mess in the NE and very unpredictable weatherwise this winter.

That's why I warmed it up and literally used 2 fingers followed by a wipedown. As of this AM it's absorbing nicely in a 68 degree room.

Will advise, Mr. Jell/Cream Jacket Man-Michaelson

Peace
Ken

I use the standard dressing for moustache wax in the cold weather. Uh, yeah, sure.....Regards. Michaelson

Michaelson wrote:I use the standard dressing for moustache wax in the cold weather. Uh, yeah, sure.....Regards. Michaelson

=D>

Hahahahahahahaha ! Nice ! - Peace, JJ

I know very little about treating leather, and before I tried this I wanted to get some opinions on how it might work. I still have Pecard's Dressing drying on my pre-distress cowhide, and after 13 days it will not dry completely. It has reached a point of being a little tacky.

I've refinished gun stocks in the past, and I know that you can pull oils from wood by laying a damp cloth over it and running an iron over the cloth. This allows the heat to pass through while preventing damage from the iron itself. My question is, would this work with leather? Could I pull the excess Pecard's off of my jacket quickly and evenly this way, or would it just pull all the Pecard's out of the leather (this is what I would assume would happen).

I am leary of applying this method to leather, but curious as to what would happen, I figured I would run it by the leather gurus here.

IG

No, no, no!!!! I wouldn't do it. You may end up with goat jerky, besides it's not necessary. Just wipe it down with a cloth. Normally, you just apply a thin coat, very thin coat on the jacket. I usually warm up the standard dressing so that it is almost liquid. Leave it be for 24 hours and wipe off excess. That should do it.

-Sergei

I still have
Pecard's Dressing drying on my pre-distress cowhide, and after 13 days it will not dry completely

The Standard Dressing will NEVER dry totally on your leather,
nor will it soak completely in like the Jell does.

Because of the beeswax, you can leave the Dressing on there
for a month, and will still be sitting on the surface of your leather
to some degree.

You have to apply it, and then rub off the excess after you've let
it soak overnight.

The Jell, when applied correctly, will soak in to the leather in a
matter of hours, leaving the surface look about the same as
it did before your application, but just slightly darker, becaue the
Jell darkens leather.

The Standard Dressing is just going to soak in so much, but it
will never appear as if it soaked in all the way like the Jell.

Flathead

A faster method is using a hairdryer on low heat setting and holding it over the jacket and working your way around it in a pattern until total coverage has been acheived. When the excess liquifies at the surface, wipe off with a clean cotton cloth...an old tee shirt is best...no fuzzies. This method was suggested to me by Eric of Pecards last year when I received a goatskin jacket from a fan that had WAY to much Pecards applied. I could have jumped against a wall and stuck like Velcro! This method worked perfectly for that problem. Regards. Michaelson

A faster method is using a hairdryer on low heat setting and holding it over the jacket and working your way around it in a pattern until total coverage has been acheived.

Thanks Michaelson! That did the trick, and I'm now wearing my Wested (and not leaving goop in the chair doing it.) I appreciate everyone's advice!

Cheers!

IG

Glad to help (yep, I HATE sticking to chairs too! ) Regards. Michaelson

I've just been using the "motorcycle" lotion on my goat and it works great. It softened the goat up just enough and been through snow, rain and occasional heavy coatings of fullers earth. Then I wipe it clean, put on the lotion by hand and everything is back to new and quite a bit softer. Is this the exception to the laws of Pecards, or just a lucky fluke?
Lindiana

Exception to the rule. I discovered this too, and you're right, it works just fine. Not sure WHY, but it does. Regards. Michaelson

I've got a question about how much to apply.
It sounds like on the standard stuff, you apply it until it won't absorb any more, the wipe/buff it off.
Does this apply to the jell and lotion? I'm applying the lotion to cow and the lotion to lamb.

I've got a new question on getting a new jacket worn in. Is there any way to stretch, or shape the cargo pockets on a cow hide without really weakening the leather? Mine are kind of snug, bug I want to be able to use them. I'd rather loosen or stretch them a little before putting anything in them that could potentially damage the leather. I did a search trying to find where this may have been discussed before, but couldn't find anything.

I'm going to do the inside-out-in-the-dryer-with-no-heat trick to soften it up some, and I'm thinking I'll just stick a Moleskine book in each of them. It may not do much, but it'll at least keep a dull, shaped object in there during movement for a while.

Cheers!

IG

I usually fold a pair of my gloves in half and store them in the cargo pockets. I found that after a while the pockets loosen up a little. Especially if you treat the jacket with the pockets full.
Lindy

I took Indydawg's advice and wore my Wested for a year. Well, he actually suggested just for a season so as to break it in and distress it prior to applying Pecards. I had only applied Letap in order to waterproof the jacket for the winter.

Thanks to Flathead, a couple of weeks ago I applied three coats of Pecard Jell to my pre-distressed Wested cowhide with confidence. The jacket went from tan to a beautiful mohogany. The leather is sooo pleasing to look at now that it has some moisture and darker coloring. I'm so thankful for the gearheads here at Indygear.com and the treasuretrove of information to be found within.

I.J.

The jacket went from tan to a beautiful mohogany. The leather is sooo pleasing to look at now that it has some moisture and darker coloring.

Glad it worked out so well!! Another thing you can do is to put just one
coat of the Jell on some areas, and two or more, like you already did, on
other areas of the jacket.

Since the more coats of Jell you apply will darken up the leather some,
you can actually get some nice color differences in the leather, that will
give the jacket a more mottled look, kind of like distressing, but without
harming the jacket.

I have done this to a Russet colored Aero Leather Buffalo hide jacket that I got last
year. I put two coats of Jell on the main body and sleeves, and one coat
on the elbows, part of the back, and the collar.

This has given the jacket a nice "old" look to it, without it actually being
old.

Plus, since it is the Jell, it doesn't add any "shine" to the leather like the
Standard Dressing with the bees wax will. It really works great!

Flathead

I thought I'd bump this thread up, just in case someone needs it.

To add a bit of new knowledge to the collective, Letap Leather Cleaner has absolutely ZERO effect on the lustre (or lack thereof) of Wested's novapelle cowhide.

Ok, I have a solid understanding of what Pecards to use on what leather, but WHEN to use is now my question. I have a new Seal brown G&B, and I want to add Pecards to protect the leather, but I don't want to darken the jacket. Being that I am in AZ, and do not need to worry much about rain (minus the monsoon season Just & August). My thinking is to wear the jacket for a while (after summer) and break it in, then assess the leather's condition. Any other (G&B) Goatskin owners out there, would did you do??

This site and this forum are incredible! I've always thought so. Especially after all the help I discovered regarding Pecards...

I purchased my Wested Raiders jacket back in late 2003. I've been using it as my regular spring/fall jacket since then (Wisconsin weather can be harsh). However, being lazy and stupid, I neglected to do any kind of leather care since I got it (shock! horror! string him up!). Recently I noticed the leather feeling really dried out, the color was lightening up, things like that. I was getting a bit worried. Well, I finally kicked myself in the rear and hunted through a bunch of COW posts on Pecards. Ordered the Classic Dressing (and brown Weatherproof Dressing for my Aldens to darken them up...haven't done that yet though...), and over the weekend I applied it to my beloved jacket. Holy cow! (no pun(s) intended) The jacket looks incredible again! It feels new, it looks new, the color is revitalized. Wow!

(Even my wife was impressed, she asked me to do her own regular store-bought black leather jacket. It was in decent shape, but this sure prettied it up quite a bit. Plus it got rid of the annoying leather squeaks-n-creaks that were irritating her, and it doesn't tighten and bunch up when she moves or folds her arms. Great stuff!)

And of course, now that my jacket looks great again, it goes and gets cold again and snows here today so I can't even wear it yet. Gotta love Wisconsin weather.

So, a great big "Thank you!" to everyone who's participated in these forums, you've all contributed greatly to the betterment of IndyGear and IndyGear fans everywhere.