Anyone ever treat new Aero FQHH with Pecards?

[ButteMT61]

It's one of those obsessions I have that's hard to shake. Treat all my leather, new or old.
I don't treat naked hides, per maker recommendations.
Just got a new Aero FQHH, too hot to wear. Itching to treat it already. Same with a new pair of boots.
Anyone use Pecards on new Aero FQHH? What do you think of the outcome?
Or should I fight it and not?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Not new Aero FQHH. The point is why?
My first Aero Jacket was my Highwayman. They sent a small bottle of Lexol with the jacket. I contacted Ken about when I should treat the jacket. He said..."Oh..in five or six years,maybe"...if you notice it getting dry in places. I have quite a few Aero FQHH jackets and have only treated my Highwayman collar a little when it seemed a little dry on the fold...after around 8 yrs. Aero's hvy FQHH comes loaded with tanning oils and waxes...you can feel the waxiness on the finish. It will last for years of heavy wear just as it is. In my view...anything else is overkill. I'd rather let it age..develope that nice charactor with burnished lighter highlights showing through rather than keep it overcoated with those itching desires.
HD

 

[Jeff M]

Nope.
Don't love your jacket to death. It isn't needed assuming the leather is in good shape.
Waiting about 5 or 6 years sounds about right for a new Aero.
I remember some time back Aero had a "new-used" jacket they were selling that a customer had returned. Amanda commented that the guy had used so much "leather treatment" on it that even they couldn't get it all off of the leather.

 

[ButteMT61]

Thanks HD. Thats why I asked. It's just one of those old habits. Took me a lot of researching to stop wasting good motor oil by changing at 3k miles. And years of slowly moving to my current 6k miles.
At 50, I have some habits that are good, some not. I'm an old dog, but I try to learn (or unlearn) new tricks.

 

[ButteMT61]

Nope.
Don't love your jacket to death. It isn't needed assuming the leather is in good shape.
Waiting about 5 or 6 years sounds about right for a new Aero.
I remember some time back Aero had a "new-used" jacket they were selling that a customer had returned. Amanda commented that the guy had used so much "leather treatment" on it that even they couldn't get it all off of the leather.

well, at least when I use the stuff, I know HOW to do it! But point taken.
I emailed Amanda as well a while back, and she said the same. However, I figured someone like me must have done it

 

[Navin323i]

I actually just got word from Amanda that Leatherique's Rejuvinator oil that Aero Leather sells on their website is safe to use on our FQHH jackets.

In the BMW world, Leatherique's products (Pristine Clean and Rejuvinator Oil) are very popular to use on the BMW leather seats. I've used this stuff in my car and swear by it.

I plan on using it on my Aero NYPD jacket since the jacket looks/feels too dry to me, plus I have this annoying fold in the leather where my brass police button is on my right chest area, so I'm hoping the Rejuv oil will help get rid of that fold since it hides the police button when wearing the jacket.

I'll post up a review here once I use the Rejuv oil within the next few days.

 

[ButteMT61]

Thanks Navin!
What she stressed with me was I don't need it on a NEW jacket. That's what I was pondering. I've read lots on leatherique, and found lots of Bimmer/Mercedes folks love it. Look forward to your findings!

 

[Tony B]

Pure neatsfoot Oil is what horween recommend for chromexcel. They use it in the making of chromexcel...avoid blends though just use the pure stuff.

Not used it on my horsehide but have used a the stuff on other leathers and it softens pretty much everthing up. It does smell though and for a day or so the leather will smell of it but then goes back to it's own smell but is significantly softer. It's made from rendered down cow shin bones and it smells just how you would imagine.

I make my own leather dressing by melting beeswax and adding neatsfoot to it while keeping it on the heat....JUST enough heat to keep it liquid while stiring it to avoid setting the house on fire in then pour into a container, as for ratio well "eerr yeah that looks about right" is all I could manage while doing the mixing but about 50/50 is probably what you should aim for ,the stuff has the consistency of butter just taken out out of the fridge once it has set and I warm it under my desk lamp to use it. Using a bit more oil in the mix would give a softer finished product and is probably what I will do next time.

As you made it yourself you know it has no nasties in it and because of the beeswax it gives a good degree of waterproofing.

 

[Navin323i]

Thanks Navin!
What she stressed with me was I don't need it on a NEW jacket. That's what I was pondering. I've read lots on leatherique, and found lots of Bimmer/Mercedes folks love it. Look forward to your findings!

Anytime bro... happy to help!

Correct... on a new jacket you definitely don't need it. My Aero NYPD was made in May 2010 and arrived in my hands in June 2010. I wear the jacket all the time (including sometimes when I watch TV at night... great way to break in the FQHH).

Like I said earlier, hopefully the Rejuv oil will help my jacket to look less dry and get rid of that annoying fold.

 

[Navin323i]

Pure neatsfoot Oil is what horween recommend for chromexcel. They use it in the making of chromexcel...avoid blends though just use the pure stuff.

Not used it on my horsehide but have used a the stuff on other leathers and it softens pretty much everthing up. It does smell though and for a day or so the leather will smell of it but then goes back to it's own smell but is significantly softer. It's made from rendered down cow shin bones and it smells just how you would imagine.

I make my own leather dressing by melting beeswax and adding neatsfoot to it while keeping it on the heat....JUST enough heat to keep it liquid while stiring it to avoid setting the house on fire in then pour into a container, as for ratio well "eerr yeah that looks about right" is all I could manage while doing the mixing but about 50/50 is probably what you should aim for ,the stuff has the consistency of butter just taken out out of the fridge once it has set and I warm it under my desk lamp to use it. Using a bit more oil in the mix would give a softer finished product and is probably what I will do next time.

As you made it yourself you know it has no nasties in it and because of the beeswax it gives a good degree of waterproofing.

Very impressive that you make your own dressing, Tony.

 

[Deleted member 16736]

FQHH is chrome-tanned and any treatment will have difficulty penetrating the leather, especially a thick goo like Pecards. You wind up with a lot more goop on your jacket than in it.

Leatherique didn't do anything noticeable. It also may contain some kind of solvent which makes me nervous. Repeated emails to Leatherique on this point have gone unanswered.

Best thing for leather, especially chrome-tanned leather, is just to wear it. The goal is not to keep your leather "moist." The goal is to keep it flexible, and the best way to keep your leather flexible is to flex it (ie. wear it).

My 2 cents.

 

[Navin323i]

FQHH is chrome-tanned and any treatment will have difficulty penetrating the leather, especially a thick goo like Pecards. You wind up with a lot more goop on your jacket than in it.

Leatherique didn't do anything noticeable. It also may contain some kind of solvent which makes me nervous. Repeated emails to Leatherique on this point have gone unanswered.

Best thing for leather, especially chrome-tanned leather, is just to wear it. The goal is not to keep your leather "moist." The goal is to keep it flexible, and the best way to keep your leather flexible is to flex it (ie. wear it).

My 2 cents.

Thanks for the info, Joel. Trust me when I say I wear my FQHH jacket a LOT. That's how I broke it in very quickly by wearing it at any opportunity I had.

While I agree that the goal isn't to keep leather "moist", the goal certainly isn't to keep the leather excessively dry either, as is the case with my jacket.

I'm still going to give Leatherique a try, using Rejuv oil. I'm happy with the results on my BMW seats. What I may do is apply the Rejuv oil to a smaller area like my collars and see how that goes. When applying the Rejuv oil I apply it with my hands so I can massage it into the leather. I plan on posting up before and after pics here.

Leatherique should be safe with our FQHH jackets. If it wasn't then Aero wouldn't sell it on their website, plus Amanda would have said not to use any conditioners period.

Wish me luck!

 

[Tony B]

Chromexcell is chrome and veg tanned... flash sods......but it does make for a fantasic leather.

Don't like solvents or ingredient lists with strange sounding chemicals which is why I make my own....and why I have to have my own saucepans which have to be kept well away from the kitchen ones.

Go on the horween site and have a look at how they make the stuff and you realise why you dont need to do much to it they "hot stuff" it which seems to involve tumbling the leather in large heated drums to make them absord all sorts of wax and oil so it won't need much doing to it for years. http://horween.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/chromexcel%C2%AE-2/

 

[ButteMT61]

I've been sleeping in my HG-5. Yes, I'm serious. It's that bloody thick/stiff. And now it's gettin' cooler, so I might have to play football or shower in it too

 

[Navin323i]

I've been sleeping in my HG-5. Yes, I'm serious. It's that bloody thick/stiff. And now it's gettin' cooler, so I might have to play football or shower in it too

Haha! Only time I've slept with my jacket on was the late nights I was watching TV on the couch... wife likes to keep the house cool so wearing the jacket keeps me warm and sleepy, lol.

 

[Mojo1975]

In our search for a good leather conditioner at Insurrection, we went through all the brands and found only one formula of leather conditioner that we felt was worthy of our jackets. It's a lanolin-based hide-rejuvenation treatment called Dr. Jackson's Hide Rejevenator! We condition upwards of over 2000 leather items every year, everything from race gloves stitched with Kevlar thread to 1920s jackets stitched with cotton thread, and this, hands down, is the BEST stuff around. Don't use petroleum products on your gear, especially your vintage gear that could be stitched with cotton thread!

Regarding conditioning a new item from Aero, Vanson, Schott, etc., please restrain yourself. Condition your garment when many of the above posters have, when the leather begins to get a bit stiff and brittle (this usually happens from sweat permeating the garment from the inside out). The hide-rejuvenation process brings out an amazing amount of patina on both Vanson and Aero jackets and revitalizes the leather in a way I, frankly, don't have words for. As for vintage garments and race suits that we thought were beyond salvation, Dr. Jackson's saved the day. Give it a shot...but not on your new Aero! :cheers1:

 

[ButteMT61]

Thanks for the info, Mojo. Never heard of that one, so I'll take a look and see.
It IS tough for me as I seem obsessed with polishing, treating, etc. all my leather goods...it's some part of my OCD I imagine.

 

[pjstrass]

listen and learn..leave well enough alone...

 

[Deleted member 16736]

Thanks for the info, Joel. Trust me when I say I wear my FQHH jacket a LOT. That's how I broke it in very quickly by wearing it at any opportunity I had.

While I agree that the goal isn't to keep leather "moist", the goal certainly isn't to keep the leather excessively dry either, as is the case with my jacket.

I'm still going to give Leatherique a try, using Rejuv oil. I'm happy with the results on my BMW seats. What I may do is apply the Rejuv oil to a smaller area like my collars and see how that goes. When applying the Rejuv oil I apply it with my hands so I can massage it into the leather. I plan on posting up before and after pics here.

Leatherique should be safe with our FQHH jackets. If it wasn't then Aero wouldn't sell it on their website, plus Amanda would have said not to use any conditioners period.

Wish me luck!

Rejuvenator oil won't change the color, but in my experience, it will strip the patina. I know because I had a nice patina forming on the jacket and Rejuvenator took it right off my Highwayman. There must be some kind of mild astringent in it.

 

[GriffDeLaGriff]

Anything that makes the jacket "wet" will conceal patina.
Its still there, but has gotten darker so its harder to see it.
It will come back after a while when the treatment stuff dries.