A Simple Guide To Conditioning A Leather Jacket
A leather jacket is an indispensable part of your wardrobe. While a good quality genuine leather jacket can be rather pricey, its versatility and durability guarantee that it will be worth every penny. Not only will it go with every outfit and can be worn almost any time of the year, but it is also incredibly durable and can last you a lifetime if you take good care of it and condition it periodically. For those still on the fence, here’s why you should get one: it’s really easy to maintain. All you need to do is follow these simple steps and you’ll be conditioning a leather jacket in no time!
Why Do You Need to Condition Your Leather?
We’ve all experienced the horrors of cracked, peeling leather. Not only is it unsightly, but it is also incredibly uncomfortable. After forking over all that money for your leather jacket, the last thing you want is to see it crack. Without proper conditioning and maintenance, your leather jacket is bound to get dry. A sure sign of such an occurrence is when your sleeves begin sticking to the body of the jacket. When this happens, you know your jacket is due for conditioning.
Make Sure Your Jacket Is Clean
Before you start applying the conditioning solution to your jacket, the most important thing to do is make sure that your jacket is clean. It might seem like a redundant step since you’ll be wiping over the jacket with the conditioner anyway, but in order for the solution to work optimally, you will need to make sure you start with a clean canvas first.
The process of cleaning a leather jacket can be quite tedious to some as it involved more than just throwing it into the washer or sending it to the dry cleaners. Leather jackets are quite finicky and require you to manually wipe them down with a damp cloth. This will help remove any dust or stains coating your jacket. If you use your jacket very frequently, you might need to add trace amounts of dish soap diluted with water to your washcloth. After wiping it down, make sure to let your jacket air dry for at least 24 hours.
Do a Test Patch
After drying, you will want to test your conditioning solution on your jacket. It’s important that leather is just animal skin and you have to treat it as such. Do a test patch on the inside hem or somewhere unnoticeable like the underside of the collar. This will help ensure that the conditioner does not stain or discolor your jacket. Let the test patch sit for another 24 hours.
Conditioning Your Leather Jacket
The process of conditioning is simple, you simply need a soft washcloth and some leather conditioner. Apply some conditioner to your washcloth and gently wipe down your jacket with it. Every leather conditioner should have specific instructions. Make sure to thoroughly read through them before applying anything to your jacket. Once you have wiped it all down, make sure to let it dry and that’s it, your jacket is conditioned!
Be Consistent
Last but not least, you have to be consistent with your conditioning. Make sure to clean and condition your leather jacket every so often in order to keep your jacket in mint condition. The general rule is between 6 to 12 months but you have to keep an eye on things as depending on the weather and climate, some jackets might need more frequent conditioning to prevent them from drying out.