Club Obi Wan

Dear All,
In my case this specifically refers to a 12 year old A2 jacket I have, but it will be of interest to owners of any leather jacket.

We all know the attraction and desirability of a well worn jacket - but do we really want to put up with a grubby (dirty) jacket?

My real interest is that the cuffs and elasticated waist band of my A2 must be pretty grubby by now (starting to feel "sticky"!).

Does anyone have any advice or experience of getting leather jackets cleaned? Obviously I'd use a professional and reputable cleaning company - but what's the likely outcome?

Do NOT do it ever?
It will shrink?
It will stretch?
The leather will have deteriorated?
Get it done - nothing to worry about?

Fortunately my favourite Wested has many more years to go before I MAY clean it..

Any advice welcome!

Thanks,

Striver

You may want to invest in some Pecard Antique Leather Dressing for the jacket to help keep the leather pliable and healthy. As far as getting it cleaned professionally, I'd take the jacket to a bunch of professional leather cleaners and get their take on it before even releasing it to anyone else's care. If you find a place that takes good care of old leathers, and assures you they do nothing which could harm it, then I'd probably go to them. If you have any vintage clothing stores in your area, see who they would recommend for such a job. Good luck!

bink

I would say just a sponge and some water and then Pecards afterwards. I am sure Michaelson will chip in when he sees this thread and give his advice.

Ken

Well, on rare occasion, they do require the services of a professional. I've had them cleaned before, and HIGHLY recommend you do your homework and find a professional who does this for a living, and not just a local dry cleaners who sends it off, and those folks mess up the job. Once it returns, Pecard the item, as the cleaning process dries out the leather. I experienced no shrinkage or any of the other bad things in your list with my jacket, but once again I stress, do your homework regarding the cleaner YOU use. Make sure they specialize in leather cleaning, and not just ship it off to a subcontractor for the work that you have no background knowledge about. Regards. Michaelson

Thanks for the advice so far everyone. I agree about the wiping of the leather (and then good old Pecards - which did a wonderful job in rejuvenating the 12 year old, previously untreated A2) - but really it's the fabric cuffs and waist band that probably only need cleaning.... Do you think I could risk carefully submerging these parts in water and giving them a gentle wash by hand? Probably the water might soak up the lining a bit - though this may not be a problem.

Striver

Woolite would be my suggestion. Also, you can have those replaced with new ones too, rather than cleaning. I had a rather 'ugly' event last Fall when I had gasoline shoot up my A-2 FS lambskin jacket sleeve, completely soaking my arm and cuff with gasoline. I soaked it with soapy water (the cuff, not the leather sleeve), then woolite, and once dry, all was well with the world. No problems with the lining at all soaking water or the like up the sleeve. Once done, Pecards the heck out of the leather above the cuff area, as it dries the leather out pretty badly. Just don't get to heavy handed around the leather WITH the water or the like...you don't want to leech the leather dye out of the hide. Regards. Michaelson

Woolite would be my suggestion

This is what Aero leather in Scotland, Eastman in England, and
Real McCoys of New Zealnd have told me to use on any of their wool
products, including my Shearling jackets, wool
cuffs and waistbands of various jackets, and any mouton collars.

This is what they told me to do:

Prepare a bucket of COOL water and the woolite per the
instructions on the bottle.

Then, take your hand, and swish the water/woolite around until you
make up some nice suds.

Then take a clean cloth, NOT papertowels, and dip the cloth in the bucket
to get the cloth wet.

Then, wring out the cloth until its just barely wet.

Then, take that cloth, and scoop up ONLY the suds you made up in the
bucket. Do not soak the cloth again.

Use the SUDS to clean off the wool areas of your jacket. Do not soak
them in water if you can help it. Its not good to get the wool too wet.
And don't rub too hard either. Let the woolite do its job. Rubbing too
hard, especially on an older, more fragile garment, can cause harm.

Repeat this process until the wool starts to get wet. Then take a dry
towel, and BLOT the wool areas with the dry towel to help absorb the
wettness from the wool.

Keep doing this until the wool is as clean as you can get it. And if your
suds start to disappear in your bucket, just swish your hand around in
it again to bring the suds back up.

When you are done, let the jacket dry naturally!! DO NOT, I repeat
DO NOT put any kind of heat on the jacket to dry it! If you do,
you will probably ruin your jackets wool parts.

This is how the big vendors of authenic flight jackets have said to clean
their wool parts of their jackets. I personally have used this method to
clean my B-3, B-6, and G-1, and it has worked evertime! I even bought
a cheap LL Bean version of a G-1 from e-bay, and it was in nice shape,
but the cuffs and waistband were dirty, along with the shearling lining on
the inside.

I had to apply this method a few times to get the dirt off, but when
I was done, the jacket looked brand new! I could not believe how nice,
clean and white the shearling came!!

Hope this helps.

Flathead

SOMEBODY CAPTURE THIS INFORMATION FOR THE MAIN PAGE!!!!!

EXCELLENT info, Flathead!! If find it ironic that I did this procedure with MY jacket, but completely by accident! Well, as they say, a blind hog finds an acorn now and again. (grins)

High regards!! Michaelson

If find it ironic that I did this procedure with MY jacket, but completely by accident!

They say great minds think alike!! It is probably your experience with
wool and leather items that kept you from really soaking them.

I know from my own experience with a really nice wool sweater along
time ago myself! I think I was about 17 or 18 at the time.

I bought a really expensive wool hunting sweater, that was really warm.
I got it dirty, and it said to "dry clean only". But being the person I am,
I thought the only way to clean something was to put it in the washing
machine.

Well, I did just that, and it looked alright when I pulled it out of the
washer. But my downfall was putting it in the dryer!

It not only came out about 5 sizes smaller, but it was also starting to
look kind of weird around the seams!

Needless to say, I learned a very expensive lesson, and I never did
that again!!

I have also ruined a few cheap leather jackets over the years
by wearing them in the rain, and then, upon getting home, putting a hair
dryer on them to dry them! I learned that one lesson too!

Flathead

Yep, those 'lessons' are not soon forgotten. I have as many horror stories, but count them as 'learning experiences' too. Regards. Michaelson

Just to throw in a couple more cents.... I have a leather jacket which had an odd fabric softener smell in it. After checking with prof. cleaners, I decided $65 was a bit much. So I emailed our trusted vendor Eric over at Pecards. Eric recommended "Lexol PH" to clean leather.
Which I did, and it worked great. You simply work up a good foam with the cleaner, and follow up with a clean damp rag. Then throw on some Classic Pecard Dressing (a must because the cleaner really deep cleans the leather) and your done. It worked EXCELLENT, no smells, and I could literally see the dirt come off on the rag. Highly Recommended.

Best Regards
James

Great info IndianaJames. I'll have to pick up some of this Lexol PH, for future usage.
'Blues

Thanks to all of you. Especially Flathead - very valuable info that. I'm printing off this thread and putting it safely in my desk top drawer!

Striver

Good suggestion on the Lexol PH. I have used that before, and it does indeed do what it advertises. As a matter of fact, if you look at the old FAQ's, when we discovered we couldn't get Letapp over here, Lexol was what I was promoting for our jackets...that was until we found Pecards. Lexol is a fine product, and one I also recommend when you can find it. Regards. Michaelson

I can almost always find the Lexol PH and the leather conditioner at the automotive parts stores.