Found the perfect vintage Schott...now I could really use some help with the smell...

[lomaxbernie]

For what it's worth, the only jacket I've machine washed was an old Schott Dur-o-Jac CR - it had a nasty smell but I was also hoping that the jacket would shrink a little because it was too big for me - and literally the only thing that happened to the jacket was that the smell disappeared so... While I can safely say that I've encountered zero problems with machine washing this particular jacket, I cannot claim that you'll get the same results with some other jacket.
I've seen some pretty horrible results from machine washing the jacket, you can look for it online, ranging from wonky zippers and lining drooping out of the sleeves to permanent stains and ripped stitching, etc. and I certainly wouldn't want risk this happening to any of my jackets.

Then again, armscye obviously has the experience in the matter so perhaps it is a completely safe method after all. Hey, if you got it cheap, give it a go. From my understanding, this sort of damage only occurs to thin, crap hides so I'm willing to bet that you don't have to worry about it when it comes to Schott.

If the jacket felt delicate at all, I really wouldn't consider the washing machine method. I have another lambskin jacket that I doubt would survive a trip through the machine, but the Schott feels very sturdy. I'll have to take a look at armscye's method closer, but my plan was to use the most delicate cycle and potentially not even do a full cycle.

 

[lomaxbernie]

Yeah, that isn't saying much... It's the same kind of tag as in my Multipocket, and my jacket is from the 80's. Well, I guess schottnyc.com forum is your best bet right now. Give it a shot. Gail is very helpful and informative and I'm sure she'll be able to tell you more about this beautiful CR.

Also, I was going to check in with Gail over in the Schott forums for some information about the jacket, but I saw she mentioned she was on vacation at the moment so I didn't want to bother her (and she said she doesn't have access to her old catalogs). I'll try and see if she knows anything about this model when she returns.

 

[pak]

I'd hand wash it in Woolite or some other mild soap. This way you can limit the amount of agitation. Slow air dry on a rack, with a fan at room temp.

 

[lomaxbernie]

I'd hand wash it in Woolite or some other mild soap. This way you can limit the amount of agitation. Slow air dry on a rack, with a fan at room temp.

My wife has a sweater drying rack I considered using after washing it. It has a small fan that drys at a cool temp in order to prevent delicate fabrics from shrinking, so I thought it would be fine for the jacket.

 

[armscye]

Washed in cold water and air dried, I have never encountered shrinkage. In fact, since I have a gorilla-style 37 inch sleeve, I often stretch sleeves an inch or so during drying by using a weighted sleeve method.

In my efforts to FORCE shrinkage via use of hot water and forced air drying, I've shrunk a couple of jackets substantially-- albeit always in a fairly uniform way (as far as I can tell it's not possible to electively shrink one part or dimension of a jacket).

I pulled a balloon-like XLT LLBean A2 down by about a half size. I also did a series of experiments on a heavy goatskin no-name jacket bought in XXL, trying every technique I could think of to reduce it in size. I washed it four times in hot water-- including one run where I added a teakettle full of boilng water to the washer-- plus 60-90 minutes of forced air drying. That one exaggerated experiment finally produced enough shrinkage that the back lining was an inch too long for the jacket. But it required herculean deliberate shrinking efforts.

 

[Monitor]

I also did a series of experiments on a heavy goatskin no-name jacket bought in XXL, trying every technique I could think of to reduce it in size. I washed it four times in hot water-- including one run where I added a teakettle full of boilng water to the washer-- plus 60-90 minutes of forced air drying. That one exaggerated experiment finally produced enough shrinkage that the back lining was an inch too long for the jacket. But it required herculean deliberate shrinking efforts.

Huh! armscye, you might have just convinced me to recreate your exaggerated experiment on this goat D-pocket that is too large on me... Didn't the leather became dry? Did you treat it with something afterwards? Better yet, do you have some photos of the jacket?

 

[armscye]

Is that the Costanza model D-Pocket?

But seriously folks, I did not encounter excessive drying in my goatskin project despite several washings-- hard-finished (non sueded) leather seems to hold its "core" oil fairly well. In addition, as my tutorial elsewhere shows, I condition my washed jackets liberally with Lexol. It seems to work better than any cream or gel-based conditioners, especially when heated.

I'll try to shoot some quickie pix, but don;'t want to hijack the OP's thread, so I may post separately.

 

[lomaxbernie]

Is that the Costanza model D-Pocket?

But seriously folks, I did not encounter excessive drying in my goatskin project despite several washings-- hard-finished (non sueded) leather seems to hold its "core" oil fairly well. In addition, as my tutorial elsewhere shows, I condition my washed jackets liberally with Lexol. It seems to work better than any cream or gel-based conditioners, especially when heated.

I'll try to shoot some quickie pix, but don;'t want to hijack the OP's thread, so I may post separately.

I'd like to take a look at the pics as well, so don't worry about hijacking my thread.

 

[Monitor]

Is that the Costanza model D-Pocket?

Haha, all the talk of shrinkage...

But seriously folks, I did not encounter excessive drying in my goatskin project despite several washings-- hard-finished (non sueded) leather seems to hold its "core" oil fairly well. In addition, as my tutorial elsewhere shows, I condition my washed jackets liberally with Lexol. It seems to work better than any cream or gel-based conditioners, especially when heated.

I'll try to shoot some quickie pix, but don;'t want to hijack the OP's thread, so I may post separately.

Please do!

Makes sense, though. I just can't imagine in what way could water damage these super thick hides... After all, they've been through much worse during the tanning process. Not to mention artificially vintaged hides.

 

[Peacoat]

I have a Schott Cafe Racer that got in a very light rain, almost a mist actually, that caused the sleeves to shrink about an inch. It was a perfect fit in the sleeves and somewhat large in the body. The body didn't shrink at all, but the nice well fit sleeves managed to shrink to the point they are a little short when my arms are extended on the bars.

This was naked cowhide, which most Schott jackets are, and the result wasn't what I wanted. I would be very leery of exposing any naked cowhide to water, unless the object was to shrink the jacket.