Sheepskin jacket maintenance

[Naphtali]

While the 2Plus2 I have coming is larger, heavier than Irvin- or B3-style sheepskin jackets, I imagine my questions include them also.

When not being worn, how - and with what - are very heavy sheepskin jackets, such as 2Plus2 and Irvin (styles) hung without stretching leather or compressing wool?

What routine maintenance - leather treatment, wool cleaning - should be done, and on what schedule? The idea of dry cleaning a leather garment at any old shop frightens me.
***
How does the information change were the leather horsehide rather than sheepskin? Were the wool/alpaca insulation a lining rather than integral with the leather?

 

[westinghouse]

I have a shearling coat and all I do each year is clean it with special liquid given to me by the manufacturer. If you have it professionally cleaned it will lose some luster.

 

[Spitfire]

Most Irvin owners - including myself - use to keep our jackets lying flat down in the bottom of a closet during the summertime. Don't leave it on a hanger. Especially if the hanger is too small.

Cleaning? I've never come to that.

 

[Tomasso]

I've got a few shearlings and I've never treated them with anything. Just stored them in a a cool dry closet, year-round.

 

[Mark P]

I hang my B6 up out of the winter season - A hanger is OK but it must be very deep at the shoulder, to spread the weight of the jacket, to avoid stretching.

 

[aswatland]

I give my original wartime Irvins a light coat of Pecards about once a year, but I would not recommend using it on new sheepskin as it wont need it for years.

 

[Naphtali]

Sinclair International has a hanger intended for Olympic and competition shooting coats that has huge shoulder support. While very expensive, it would be a one-time purchase. Let me know your thoughts.

Here is its link.

http://www.sinclairintl.com/product/6299/s

 

[alfyman]

sheepskin maintenance

I did hung up my sheepskin jacket in the closet, and now I have two extra bumps on the shoulders, Well Now that I have a New Sheepskin jacket i will follow the rules and take better care of this one.

 

[BaggyPants]

I hang my B6 up out of the winter season - A hanger is OK but it must be very deep at the shoulder, to spread the weight of the jacket, to avoid stretching.

Sound advice. My ELC Irvin lives on a hanger, but is custom made (by me) to the exact width of the shoulders, with wide pads at the end. As yet, it has not stretched or deformed at all, after hanging for the last 6 months or so. The trick is to make the hanger fit the slope of the shoulder perfectly, so it is supported at all points.

 

[rumblefish]

Most Irvin owners - including myself - use to keep our jackets lying flat down in the bottom of a closet during the summertime. Don't leave it on a hanger. Especially if the hanger is too small.

Cleaning? I've never come to that.

^I have an Aero D-1, same routine. Laid flat in the summer inside a cedar closet. Big, wide and thick wooden hanger while in service in the coat closet. No cleaning either.