Leather and the Rain

[kronos77]

Hi,

I just found this forum and I am really impressed with the knowledge displayed. I am really new to the whole leather jacket scene and have a question.

I have a jacket in black naked cowhide. I am told it is best to keep it out of the rain. What would happen if I did in fact wear the jacket in the rain? Would it be ruined? How would the appearance change?

Thanks

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Naked!?

Wow! Not really familiar with the term as it pertains to leathers. But if by "naked" they mean that the leather has little or no finish, such as a suede or nubuck, it's a good idea to avoid excessive exposure to precipitation of any kind. These types of leather won't hold up well when exposed to much water. In fact, they get downright mangy looking with too much exposure. Ocasional, light exposure to rain can't be helped sometimes,......rain happens and a little bit won't kill your jacket, but I wouldn't stand out in a downpour if I were you.

 

[kronos77]

Maj. Nick,

Thanks for the reply. Naked cowhide is not the same as suede. It is unfinished though. The natural oils of the jacket protect it supposedly. It reminds me of Aero's vintage leather only in cowhide.

Steve

 

[Burma Shave]

Leather, naked or not

I wear a leather jacket about 80 percent of the time, even in summer, because I ride a motorcycle as my sole means of transportation. Even when I'm wearing a suit, I usually wear a longer leather coat over it, just for safety purposes. So I'm used to the material.

All of my leather coats have been well-rained-on, except for one suede one, which I don't wear on the bike. I've never had any of them go overly stiff from being soaked. There was one jacket that stiffened up for a few weeks after a long run from Arizona through Colorado and down to Tennessee (then my home) in the rain. Seriously, it rained for six days straight, and me on a bike! But I just wore the jacket and applied some magic goo, and it limbered right up.

The magic goo: Feibings' lanolin and beeswax paste. Smear the stuff liberally onto the leather with your fingers, give it a good massage, and rub off the extra with a towel you don't want anymore. When you're done rubbing off the excess, go back to massaging the leather. Once the jacket is so-treated, it'll be darn near waterproof for many months, even if you wear it daily.

On the other hand, I have two jackets I've never treated with anything, and they're still in good shape. The worst I would expect to happen (assuming it's good leather, and it sounds like your jacket is) would be some loss of dye over time. Personally, I don't think of that as a negative thing. Let the jacket get worn-looking, and its personality will go through the roof!

As an old man once told me, it's silly to protect leather from the rain. After all, the cow wore it in the rain and didn't spray it with any 3M products.
(Of course, on the cow the leather had natural oils, along with sweat and other natural "products" to protect it, but I never pointed that out to Mr. Collins.)

 

[Andy]

I have a cheapo A2 that got dunked in Puget Sound, with me in it, and it looks as good as it ever did.