Leather coat storage

[HighandDry]

Now that Spring is on the way, I was wondering how you guys store your leather coats. Do you keep them hung? It would seem that hanging them for such a prolonged time might affect the shoulders. I remember reading that Peacoat just piles them on the floor in the closet.

Thanks

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Laid flat on a shelf.

bk

 

[Phantomfixer]

I like Peacoats way. I usually wear my jackets all year here in Delaware. In the summer I might wear the A-2 to the beach at night. I put my jackets on the old thick wooden hangers and put them in the closet. I guess for long term storage and acid free box with acid free tissue paper placed in a humidity and light controlled room would be the best thing

 

[sixties.nut]

Sorry PF; had to...

I guess for long term storage and acid free box with acid free tissue paper placed in a humidity and light controlled room would be the best thing

each one then placed in a locked attache case with the combo 007.lol lol lol

 

[jimmer_5]

Laid flat on a shelf.

bk

This sounds like a good idea, but I don't think I have any shelves that are wide enough.... I use good sculpted, wide wooden hangers. I recently bought three more for $8 a piece at Bed Bath and Beyond.

 

[tonypaj]

My leather jackets get used and get way worse punishment than being stored. Some are hanging in the closets, some are somewhere else. I'm not very fussy about it, they're not suits...

 

[jon z]

I keep mine laid out, each in it's own space on the floor of a spare bedroom. Those with wool or shearling lining I put a couple of cedar rings in the neck opening to keep moths away. Also my Wife has heard that a bowl of conquers (horse chestnuts) keeps moths & spiders at bay so there's one of those in the room also. She has placed a bowl in the hallway as well. Since doing this there has been a definite lack of spiders in the house, which until then was plagued by them.

 

[John in Covina]

Hot and Humid

One thing that came to mind is if you live in areas of high heat and high humidity.

(In the late seventies on Long Island, NY I had some clothes and shoes ruined by mold or mildew after being hung in a closet during a hot & humid summer. Yecch and NNNNuts!)

I know that there are closet dehumidifiers, it might be something to consider when it comes to storing that valuable leather jacket.

 

[WideBrimm]

Hot & Humid ? Doesn't Air Conditioning solve that problem? I know that before A/C people often used "hot boxes" or heat lamps in closets, etc to help solve the problem.

Here in the semi-arid high plains we often have just the opposite problem. Old leather items often disintegrate from the dryness. Not long ago I dug my old Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera out of the closet. I tried opening the leather case which immediately fell into pieces

 

[John in Covina]

On LI, constant running of the AC for an entire household was pretty much cost prohibitive. And this was back when a buck actually bought something.

 

[jon z]

Here in England we have weather for leather. None of this humidity mould or dry rot rot so storage facilities for your treasures offered at a reasonable rate.

 

[P5640blouson]

Hang it on a hanger that is fat and wide enough

Hang it on a hanger that is fat and wide enough as to not reshape the shoulders. If its a high quality garment, nothing will happen to its shape or seams if hung right. For long term storage, garments must be clean in order to prevent rotting. In general, its better to wear your leather so they stay aired and maintained through general cleaning and dressing. Store it away long term without monthly inspection and it will rot from high or low humidity, mold, become brittle, or you'll simply grow out of them. Nevertheless if you have a collectible, then storing in perfect humidity, clean, and periodically inspected, and you may end up with a vintage leather piece that holds its value. Its your preference.

 

[apba1166]

Zipped, on thick 19" "shaper" hangers. One heavy shearling and one heavy cowhide laid flat.

 

[P5640blouson]

jacket falls apart under its own weight

If a jacket is so heavy that it can fall apart or deform even on a special wide coat hanger, I think that jacket is very poorly designed and/or stitched. JM2C:eusa_doh:

 

[saucerfiend]

I hope nobody minds me cutting in here to ask this, but where can you get nice 19" hangers that are 2+ inches thick? Or, what is the best hangers to buy for heavy leather A-2's?

Brian

 

[xwray]

I hope nobody minds me cutting in here to ask this, but where can you get nice 19" hangers that are 2+ inches thick? Or, what is the best hangers to buy for heavy leather A-2's?

Brian

I had been looking for hangers like this but didn't see any I liked and/or they were just to expensive. Then I found these...looks pretty good, price was reasonable, and free shipping so I'm going to try them.

http://cgi.ebay.com/12-wooden-delux...tu=UCC&otn=20&ps=63&clkid=8538091686082476787

 

[Seb Lucas]

I fold mine like a jumper/sweater and put them in a large ventilated plastic container. Four jackets per container.

 

[John in Covina]

Wonder if anyone has placed them in bags and filled with inert gases like nitrogen to keep them. Way back when people use to take their best furs and furcoats to the storage guys that had special atmosperically controlled areas for them. Wonder what the Smithsonian would save about presevation of leather jackets.

 

[Phantomfixer]

Wonder if anyone has placed them in bags and filled with inert gases like nitrogen to keep them. Way back when people use to take their best furs and furcoats to the storage guys that had special atmosperically controlled areas for them. Wonder what the Smithsonian would save about presevation of leather jackets.

Look inside of "Flak Bait" at the NASM. One of the crew members donated their A-2 after he saw that his B-26 was on display. I believe the jacket is drapped over the navigators station chair. Other museums do use the acid free paper and box in a climate controled low light room. Sometimes a locked case (for sixties-nut): )Extreme for most of us for sure. The AF Museum in Ohio has a few of their A-2s placed near aircraft in glass cases. The rest are in storage as described above.

 

[Peacoat]

I had been looking for hangers like this but didn't see any I liked and/or they were just to expensive. Then I found these...looks pretty good, price was reasonable, and free shipping so I'm going to try them.

http://cgi.ebay.com/12-wooden-delux...tu=UCC&otn=20&ps=63&clkid=8538091686082476787

Yes, those hangers are exactly what you want, and a good price as well. That's what I hang my peacoats on. My leather jackets get tossed on the floor of the closet. That way my wife can't easily tell that the number of jackets is growing.