thatdrewman
New in Town
- Messages
- 21
Firstly, I have to thank everyone who offered their advice regarding cleaning and conditioning leather jackets in Fedora Lounge because soaking a leather jacket purposely in water would be the last thing I ever thought of doing. I followed every tip that the leather jacket experts here had vouched for and agreed on.
Background of the jacket:
Honestly, I have no idea. The seller claimed it was a 1930s to 1940s German leather jacket he purchased in France. There are no brand tags whatsoever. The only information remains is the size tag and the button. It seemed like something was cut off from the size tag.
I cannot stand the mouldy smell and I usually wear a tee inside the leather jacket, just the idea of having the mould directly contact my skin makes me feel uneasy already. I just had to take the plunge.
I soaked the jacket with a tub of warm water with Lexol Leather Cleaner.
This was the first wash, I saw hair, dust, gunk and even dead mosquitoes floating in brown muddy water. I did not handwash it like rubbing the leather against each other as I wanted to minimize the damage to the jacket, I gently squeezed and swirled the jacket in the water.
I repeated the process 5 times until the water was clear of brown residues. However, the mouldy smell still lingered. Therefore, I added a considerable amount of white vinegar, hoping it would do the magic. 2 more washes with white vinegar, the mouldy smell was 90% gone and I was satisfied with the results.
In total, I did 7 washes (5 with water and lexol leather cleaner, 2 with water and vinegar), and inevitably lost some of the dye/pigment of the jacket.
Then I laid it flat on a big bed cover to absorb the moisture with ventilation for 3-4 days. When it became relatively dry, I let the jacket chill in the backyard under the shade to dry completely for 2-3 days.
To be continued in the comment session due to photo limitations.
Background of the jacket:
Honestly, I have no idea. The seller claimed it was a 1930s to 1940s German leather jacket he purchased in France. There are no brand tags whatsoever. The only information remains is the size tag and the button. It seemed like something was cut off from the size tag.
I cannot stand the mouldy smell and I usually wear a tee inside the leather jacket, just the idea of having the mould directly contact my skin makes me feel uneasy already. I just had to take the plunge.
I soaked the jacket with a tub of warm water with Lexol Leather Cleaner.
This was the first wash, I saw hair, dust, gunk and even dead mosquitoes floating in brown muddy water. I did not handwash it like rubbing the leather against each other as I wanted to minimize the damage to the jacket, I gently squeezed and swirled the jacket in the water.
I repeated the process 5 times until the water was clear of brown residues. However, the mouldy smell still lingered. Therefore, I added a considerable amount of white vinegar, hoping it would do the magic. 2 more washes with white vinegar, the mouldy smell was 90% gone and I was satisfied with the results.
In total, I did 7 washes (5 with water and lexol leather cleaner, 2 with water and vinegar), and inevitably lost some of the dye/pigment of the jacket.
Then I laid it flat on a big bed cover to absorb the moisture with ventilation for 3-4 days. When it became relatively dry, I let the jacket chill in the backyard under the shade to dry completely for 2-3 days.
To be continued in the comment session due to photo limitations.
Last edited:
