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Irvin RAF jacket care

xdMinty

New Member
Hey guys
I've been an avid lurker of the forums for a little while now and finally bit the bullet and got myself a proper flight jacket
I e-mailed Aviation Leathercraft regarding care and dating of the jacket and they were kind enough to help me out with dating the jacket to some time in the 80s
I have some questions regarding care which i didn't get much information about from Aviation Leathercraft
From my understanding every Irvin flight jacket comes with a sort of spray on layer from the factory which wears to be a softer suede kind of material
How do i go about caring for the jacket now that it's basically completely suede
 

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Southoftheborder

Well-Known Member
I think they used a light finish with some of their jackets at that time and it does wear off quickly. Your best option IMO is to use Picards or just petroleum jelly on it and it would smooth out the sued effect it's developed and make it a sort of satin. Adding some renovating shoe polish in a darker brown to the P Jelly/vaseline would be an option too.

I had Cirrus in a finish like that a long time ago which went the same way, and using vaseline regularly kept it looking pretty good. I was even complemented on it. A lot more than I ever was with my better Irvin repros in fact.
 
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