nanoshores
Member
I’ve been meaning to post this for a while but things got in the way. I managed to source an Avirex B3 from around 1992 but it was in need of some love. The buckles were either missing or broken and the smell on the jacket was a tad irksome. So I sent it to be dry cleaned which certainly dealt with the smell but then it removed the acrylic protective layer and much of the dark tan colouring as well as the arm decal. ( the lack of a decal I can live without tbh). So I now had to replace all of the buckles and then restore the tan and finally reapply the acrylic. The Leather Repair Company was where I sourced the dye and acrylic finish with additional help from a local leather shop for help with fixing the new buckles. One caveat was that I applied horse oil to the dried out jacket post the dry clean which brought back a smell similar to well used saddles. So I would not recommend that product if you are going to re-dye a shearling coat. As the dye will provide ample hydration with no unwanted smell. The other caveat would be that washing the garment as per John’s suggestion would in hindsight have been a potentially better option. Here are some images that hopefully show the restoration. Note the images that show the faded pre dye look on one side of the jacket with dye applied to one section to show the difference.
