To care for or not to care for your jacket ?

[Brettafett]

Have you asked John? Sent him the pictures? I would do so and get some feedback from him.

 

[Micawber]

Have you asked John? Sent him the pictures? I would do so and get some feedback from him.

Agreed, contacting John for his input would be my first move too.

 

[Brettafett]

Besides that, I follow much of the above... I don't treat any of my jackets. Wear them in rain, snow, Sun etc then at home, if possible, dab the surface water off with a dry cloth.
(this is often a good opportunity to 'work' some parts of the jacket if you want, naturally. Mould the collar shape for example, scrunch it up, or put some natural creases in, wearing it around till it dries).
Or simply let dry at room temperature.
Try give them room to breathe in cupboards also.
One thing I do tend to take 'care' of, or be aware of, is the cuffs. I try not to stretch them out, try not to get them too wet when out, store them inside out etc... just to give them a bit more life.
Have had no issues with BK and Platon's jacket this far. ELC's go out quite quick in comp, Larry's replacement knit have also loosened up a bit. MASH so far so good.

 

[Officer Dibley]

I’d never use Pecards myself.....regardless of what the great & good on here say....

 

[robrinay]

The leather on that jacket looks like it’s aged prematurely. I’ve seen that effect on fifty year old jackets when the fibres become dry dusty and no longer adhere to each other.

 

[Smithy]

Besides that, I follow much of the above... I don't treat any of my jackets.

Spot on Brett and you actually shouldn't have to unless you live somewhere and routinely subject the jacket to huge amounts of temperature fluctuations, and for that I mean 30+ in summer, -5 and below in winter. Even then it shouldn't need conditioning for some time. If you live somewhere temperate you shouldn't have to for decades.

The pictures above actually look like the beginnings of red rot although to be honest you shouldn't and wouldn't expect to see that in something 10 years old. Unless there was an underlying problem at the start with that leather it does actually look like it's experienced very high humidity and then been dried out excessively quickly, and perhaps had this process happen several times over, and that it is the start of rot.

Sadly no potions and lotions will repair that. If it is the beginning of rot, Klucel G won't repair it - nothing will - but it will stabilise it and stop it spreading.

 

[Micawber]

Spot on Brett and you actually shouldn't have to unless you live somewhere and routinely subject the jacket to huge amounts of temperature fluctuations, and for that I mean 30+ in summer, -5 and below in winter. Even then it shouldn't need conditioning for some time. If you live somewhere temperate you shouldn't have to for decades.

The pictures above actually look like the beginnings of red rot although to be honest you shouldn't and wouldn't expect to see that in something 10 years old. Unless there was an underlying problem at the start with that leather it does actually look like it's experienced very high humidity and then been dried out excessively quickly, and perhaps had this process happen several times over, and that it is the start of rot.

Sadly no potions and lotions will repair that. If it is the beginning of rot, Klucel G won't repair it - nothing will - but it will stabilise it and stop it spreading.

What Tim says^^^. Contact John Chapman and send him the photos. He will probably want to know what, if anything has been applied to the hide and will make a judgement accordingly. John is a reasonable man and should be your first port of call over this issue.

 

[Silver Surfer]

wow, never, ever seen a 10 year old jacket in that kinda condition, even crappy mall junk.

 

[London Cabbie]

Does everyday wear perspiration, heat and sweat keep the jacket ‘hydrated’...?

 

[Smithy]

The way it's breaking down and cracking, flaking looks to be perfect symptoms of the beginning of rot. Be interesting to know whether this is veg tanned because as a leather it's far more susceptible to red rot and other problems with excessive humidity and moisture, and temperature fluctuations.

 

[Smithy]

Does everyday wear perspiration, heat and sweat keep the jacket ‘hydrated’...?

No Cabbie, the salt in sweat will eventually degrade the leather but we're talking decades and decades for significant damage. Just wear your A-2s and don't worry about a bit of sweat. The collar will discolour/darken from this and the oils from your skin over time but that's perfectly normal. Don't overthink it - it's just a jacket, not a diamond so it's not going to last forever. Just wear it and enjoy it.

 

[London Cabbie]

Thankyou, Smithy.
I’m not precious about my A2, apart from taking it off, try to avoid tugging the cuffs.

 

[mulceber]

Thankyou, Smithy.
I’m not precious about my A2, apart from taking it off, try to avoid tugging the cuffs.

Wait, how do you take an A-2 without tugging at the cuffs? That’s basically the only way they’ll get over my hands...

 

[London Cabbie]

My G1 has thinner cuffs, I noticed the holes have appeared in the places where I would tug at the cuffs to take jacket off...

I now slip my fingers up the wool cuffs, grap the bottom of the leather sleeve to pull jacket off.

 

[MikeyB-17]

I always try to pull the leather and not the knits when I take off a jacket with wool cuffs.
My B-3 does get a bit dry after a while, I find a drop of the much-maligned leather treatment of the Devil, Pecard’s, sparingly applied, does the job very nicely. Been doing it for as long as I’ve had it (barring the ten-odd years that I didn’t own it and it sat in Rich’s drawer), and it’s showing no ill effects so far.

 

[Mybad]

Hi all I have a jacket that has been hanging in a wardrobe for yrs, and looking at it it has got some mould patches here and there and the leather seems to be toughening up, what would be the best approach to this problem.

 

[ButteMT61]

I would try some leather cleaner like Lexol, which works well in my experience.
Follow up with drying and then some Vaseline or Pecard.

 

[P-47 thunderbolt]

I’d never use Pecards myself.....regardless of what the great & good on here say....

I've got a ww2 jerkin, it's not too dry, a little rot in a few spots, what's best to do?

 

[usaf falcon driver]

While I agree no dressing, would you happen to have something to back that claim up? I am curious. There are certainly lots of opinions but I have yet to see definitive proof where leather dressing ruins the leather. I doubt any of us here would live to see it if it did.
Not saying you are wrong.

US wings previously Cooper says they should have the dressing used once a yr and if worn where roads are salted etc more often. It causes zero damage and all of my goatskins are far better now that i have started to follow their suggestion. I use the products they sell. That being said NEVER use a dressing where a jacket is painted etc. NEVER I recently got a martin lane 1968 G-1 and it was getting quite still. It needed a zipper so when I sent it to US Wings for a new zipper I also had them clean it and give it a good treatment with their dressing. It came back almost like new. The improvement was incredible ! It had obviously not been treaed in many years if ever and it was so still it was getting so bad that it was going to crack if it got folded over. Now its almost as soft as my newer goatskins,, the idea that dressings hurt a jacket in some way is absolutely false. call them if you need to confirm,, they make them,, so I trusted them and glad I listened!!

 

[usaf falcon driver]

I would try some leather cleaner like Lexol, which works well in my experience.
Follow up with drying and then some Vaseline or Pecard.

vaseline is a petroleum product i would not use it. US Wings previously Cooper,, have products they put on the jackets they make and repair. just go to their website