Shearling fur sticking into T-shirts or sweater underneath - is this normal?

[Shin]

Hi

So I just got a leather trucker jacket from Levi's made of sheepskin shearling. There's one minor annoyance that I notice is that the fur from the shearling sticks to my cotton t-shirt, similar to the way dog or cat hair sticks to your clothes, though not to that extreme.

This is my first shearling, so I have no idea if this is normal or not. Is there any shearling owner who can tell me the experience and how to avoid this?

 

[Monitor]

Hi

So I just got a leather trucker jacket from Levi's made of sheepskin shearling. There's one minor annoyance that I notice is that the fur from the shearling sticks to my cotton t-shirt, similar to the way dog or cat hair sticks to your clothes, though not to that extreme.

This is my first shearling, so I have no idea if this is normal or not. Is there any shearling owner who can tell me the experience and how to avoid this?

Fur shouldn't be shedding excessively though it's normal for a couple of hairs to fall off. Though I've never really noticed hair loss happening on any of my shearling jackets...

Try lightly pulling the fur. If it's falling out, something's wrong with the jacket. There isn't really anything you can do about it.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Are you sure this is real shearling ? Levis often uses synthetic wool resembling shearling. However I have never had either stick to my clothing or shed.

 

[Shin]

Are you sure this is real shearling ? Levis often uses synthetic wool resembling shearling. However I have never had either stick to my clothing or shed.

Hi,

It's this model. Apparently it's made in india and the material is 100% sheepskin.

https://www.johnlewis.com/levi's-shearling-trucker-jacket-black/p3284935

Though I purchased it off Ebay at a discount. The seller seems positive to me, and I can upload the jacket as well if you can tell me more regarding its authenticity.

PS. I also burned a bit of the hair and it definitely smells like burnt human hair, nothing plastic at all.

Here is the link:
https://imgur.com/a/juIN1uu

The first pic is my white t-shirt after 1 hour of wearing, if you click the + sign and zoom in you can see the loss hair more clearly.
The rest of the pics are the jacket itself. Says made of "sheepskin and contains non-textile parts of animal origin."

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I don't know. I see where the description and tag describe it as authentic sheepskin, but that fiber on your shirt looks suspect to me. The jacket looks like it was dyed and treated heavily or perhaps even harshly which could cause an abnormal reaction. Real wool should feel a little greasy since it naturally has lanolin within it's fibers. If you hope to keep the jacket, I would try combing through it to see how much it would shed. Maybe there are just some loose hairs from the manufacturing process and the rest of the wool is OK.
HD

 

[Harris HTM]

I had similar issues with my aero b3, nothing serious but I avoid wearing it with black shirts. I got me one of these rollers with sticky paper, turned the jacket inside out and worked the roller. It will help you as well.

 

[Monitor]

What @HoosierDaddy said.

It's definitely real sheepskin but yeah, it might've been processed to hell and back which may be the reason for the shedding - though that's the worst case scenario and probably not the case here.

But yeah, as HD said, try combing through the fur - and do it somewhere out of sight, you'd be surprised how different the shearling looks once combed) - to see if it actually is falling off or if it's just a few residual hairs that fell off during the production of the jacket. Levi's has a very good QC and India is known for making excellent shearling so I don't think you've got anything to worry about.

Extremely beautiful jacket, by the way!

 

[Shin]

What @HoosierDaddy said.

It's definitely real sheepskin but yeah, it might've been processed to hell and back which may be the reason for the shedding - though that's the worst case scenario and probably not the case here.

But yeah, as HD said, try combing through the fur - and do it somewhere out of sight, you'd be surprised how different the shearling looks once combed) - to see if it actually is falling off or if it's just a few residual hairs that fell off during the production of the jacket. Levi's has a very good QC and India is known for making excellent shearling so I don't think you've got anything to worry about.

Extremely beautiful jacket, by the way!

Hi!

Thank you! I think the leather itself at least has been processed quite significantly since it doesn't smell like any of my leather jackets. I can't detect the typical leathery odor, if you know what I mean.

And I am trying to use the sticky roller to see if it gets better.

 

[Monitor]

Thank you! I think the leather itself at least has been processed quite significantly since it doesn't smell like any of my leather jackets. I can't detect the typical leathery odor, if you know what I mean.

Don't worry about the smell. I don't think I've had more than two jackets that smelled alike while most didn't have any smell at all. It's mostly chemicals used in the process of tanning that people associate with the smell of leather. Your jacket is made from leather, no doubt there but the fact that you can't smell it doesn't indicate anything at all.

Very large companies like Levi's play it safe by reducing or completely removing the smell from their leather goods because some people might dislike it enough not to buy the item.

 

[Carlos840]

That leather looks like it was tanned with a flamethrower!
I wonder what the difference in life expectancy is between something like this Levi's and something that is tanned in a more traditional way like Eastman or Aero uses.
What does a jacket like this look like after 10 years?

 

[Shin]

That leather looks like it was tanned with a flamethrower!
I wonder what the difference in life expectancy is between something like this Levi's and something that is tanned in a more traditional way like Eastman or Aero uses.
What does a jacket like this look like after 10 years?

Well, I can post some pics after 10 years and we'll find out ! And I believe this particular jacket was tanned like this on purpose, to achieve this cracky-fissure like effect? No idea though since I am not a fashion designer at Levi's lol. I quite like the appearance of the leather, though.

 

[Just Jim]

Re: hair loss, take the jacket to a DIY dog grooming place and use the fur vac and a brush to go over every inch of the shearling. Do it from a couple of directions if you have time. This should eliminate almost all of the loose or likely-to-be-loose-soon hair, resulting in a liner that isn't shedding like a buffalo in springtime.

 

[rocketeer]

"Crafted from authentic grained sheepskin leather with a soft shearling lining, this Levi's trucker jacket is designed for comfort and enduring style."
Does this actually make sense? Does the jacket have a separate liner? I always thought a sheepskin jacket was just that, the leather having a 'hair on' appearance about it like any B3, B6, Irvin, driving coat etc, or is it just their way of describing the inside of the coat/jacket?

 

[rocketeer]

I don't know. I see where the description and tag describe it as authentic sheepskin, but that fiber on your shirt looks suspect to me. The jacket looks like it was dyed and treated heavily or perhaps even harshly which could cause an abnormal reaction. Real wool should feel a little greasy since it naturally has lanolin within it's fibers. If you hope to keep the jacket, I would try combing through it to see how much it would shed. Maybe there are just some loose hairs from the manufacturing process and the rest of the wool is OK.
HD

Hi Van.
I thought the greasy lanolin got washed out during the tanning process.
I took the family to a zoo where sheep sheering was under way, all the kids got a sample to take back to school and yes it had a very greasy feel to it.
My Eastman B3 never had any greasiness to it just soft and warm, nor my Aero Thunderbay

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Don't know about all shearlings but my Aero B-6 and two other cheaper B3 styles I had presented a soft feel to the wool as if conditioner was applied. I attributed that to natural lanolin. Not really greasy but not dry either. These are the only sheep's wool jackets that I have owned, so figured they all would or should be that way. However, I'm not an expert.
HD

 

[rocketeer]

Don't know about all shearlings but my Aero B-6 and two other cheaper B3 styles I had presented a soft feel to the wool as if conditioner was applied. I attributed that to natural lanolin. Not really greasy but not dry either. These are the only sheep's wool jackets that I have owned, so figured they all would or should be that way. However, I'm not an expert.
HD

Yes they do feel nice and smooth, I do think that add something after or during the tanning. Lanolin is naturally in the wool so must get washed out along the tanning notice. I guess if we knew how some of us might have a go on our own.
On a similar note, have you ever seen those travel programs where they visit, say Morocco and show their tanneries where a poor guy stands in a vat full of coloured gunk stamping away on various kinds of leathers, then gets out with his legs a deep blue, red, yellow colour or whatever other. Can't do them much good.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Yes but it seems to me that during the tanning of shearling hides, the wool side would somehow need to be protected from the tanning, dyes and processing. However if they are heavily ' washed ' the lanolin would indeed be minimized or completely gone. I lived on a farm as a kid and do know how sheep's wool does naturally have a 'heavy' lanolin feel to it. My Aero isn't like that but does have a lighter lanolin feel to the wool side. It would be interesting to find out if any lotion is added or if some lanolin is still present in some hides.
HD

 

[Peacoat]

Yes but it seems to me that during the tanning of shearling hides, the wool side would somehow need to be protected from the tanning, dyes and processing. However if they are heavily ' washed ' the lanolin would indeed be minimized or completely gone. I lived on a farm as a kid and do know how sheep's wool does naturally have a 'heavy' lanolin feel to it. My Aero isn't like that but does have a lighter lanolin feel to the wool side. It would be interesting to find out if any lotion is added or if some lanolin is still present in some hides.
HD

Exactly, but I have no idea how that would be done. It may be, as you conjecture, the lanolin is added back in to protect the shearling.