One thing I don’t think I’ve ever discussed here is leather embossing, or what embossed leather is. So just what is leather embossing? What does embossed leather look like? How do you emboss leather and where can you get leather embossing kits?
Well first lets get it straight about just what is leather embossing, because it is often confused with leather tooling, or leather working. Simply put, leather embossing is the act of putting any type of design, mark or lettering in leather with a stamp, wheel or die tool.
Leather embossing is the act of stamping or pressing an object into the leather so that it leaves an impression. Embossed leather does NOT have any leather cut out, like in leather tooling. (more…)
Many people search online for suede leather cleaner, so it would seem like many people don’t know how to clean suede leather. Or they want to find a suede leather cleaner that will clean up their suede leather items.
How do you clean suede leather? Well first you need to understand that suede leather is the split part of leather hide that has not been sanded smooth. Because of this is it very soft with an almost fuzzy feel to it.
Unfortunate that fuzzy surface picks up dirt a lot better than a smooth one. Also the suede fibers can discolor easy from liquids, even plain water. So many people have suede leather apparel and items that need a suede leather cleaner. (more…)
I recently had an email from someone who wanted to know if a leather jacket I had was really tough, not a soft leather jacket. He seemed to indicate that if a leather jacket was soft to the touch it was not a tough leather jacket. So I thought I’d clear up that question in a post today.
How tough, or long lasting a leather jacket is depends on several things, but softness is not one of them. Leather that is soft and flexible to the touch has just been treated very well to get that way. The real test of how rugged a leather jacket is depends on the type of hide, the layer of the hide used and how thick the hide is.
A top grain leather is the layer of hide at the top, where the hair use to be. That layer is the strongest part of the hide. Leather hides are always split into several layers. The layers below the top grain is the split grain leather, which is a bit weaker than the top layer. (more…)
Down here in Florida biker weather is year round. But for much of the USA people put their leather motorcycle jackets, saddle bags and biker leather away for the winter. With spring coming up it’s a good time to get out that leather and get it ready.
It also cheers you up as you can think of riding again! If you’ve kept your leather jacket and leather items in a cool, aired out place and you cleaned it before putting it away chances are you don’t have to do a thing to it.
But,,,, if you threw it in a pile last fall, left it dirty thinking you’ll get around to cleaning it, or it’s been hanging over a heater, chances are you need to do a few things to it if you want it to last. (more…)
Hey everyone! I’ve been really busy the past few days. I finally got myself a camcorder and also my own youtube channel. So now I’m all set to take lots of good videos of this years bike week!
I also run an Orlando tourist site, so my youtube channel has both biker and theme park videos, or at least will have. Right now I just have a few picture slide show videos in there.
But soon I’ll be taking a lot of videos of leather jacket stuff, bikers and Orlando tourist information. So check out my youtube video channel and send me a friend request. Then you can see all the new videos when I add them.
The one above is the pictures I have in my gallery, I just made a slide show video out of it. Maybe I’ll put on some of the leather jackets and make short videos of them so you can see better how they look and what they have.
Of course what I really want to do is get a hot babe to pose for videos of leather skirts and tops, lol! I’ll let you know if I have any luck making those. So anyway look for some bike week videos here soon, and join my youtube video channel to see all my videos!
The Daytona Beach Bike week event is almost here! Bike week 2010 is from Feb. 26th to March 7th. Every damn year I say to myself I’m going to open up a booth and sell some of my leather jackets, but every year I never get around to it until it’s too late!
I have a small gallery you see in the top left sidebar of bike week 2009. I got up there late in the day so I did not have time to take much pictures. This year I’m going to spend a full day up there taking videos with my new camcorder!
This year is going to be a good one, with record bikers attending. You might think that with the recession not many would show up. But bikers are resourceful types, and bike week is too big to pass up! (more…)
It’s been a while since I had a leather youtube video on here, so I got this great one. This guy makes all kinds of leather motorcycle saddlebags, tool bags and many others. In this cool youtube video he shows how to make a leather motorcycle tool bag from start to finish.
He shows every step, from cutting the raw flat leather to putting the many finishes and dyes on the leather. All the way up to the final finished leather motorcycle tool bag. It’s pretty nice to see all the steps and you’ll be surprised at how he does some of the things he does.
This leather youtube video is almost 10 minutes long, so give yourself some time to watch it. It’s always nice to see real hand made leather items how how they make them. So enjoy this youtube leather motorcycle tool bag video!
I got a question a week ago that I thought would make a good post, so here it is! Someone asked that their leather jacket always seems to get mildew on it. They said the jacket always seems to have oil on it, no matter how much they hang it up to dry. They wanted to know how to stop it from getting mildew.
Well, it sounds like the leather jacket has too much conditioner on it. Or, the type of conditioner on it is thick and heavy and not the right type to use. Leather conditioner is nothing more than oil that you rub into your leather item. Some of them have several different ingredients mixed together.
The whole point of leather conditioner is to make the leather soft and prevent it from cracking. It also acts to make it water resistant. The oil protects the leather fibers, replacing the natural oils that were there when the animal was alive. However leather also has to breath and let moisture out. (more…)
Well the 2009 annual Biketoberfest at Daytona Beach is under way for 2009! I already made a post about it which you can red here for more information: 2009 biketoberfest. The weather is fantastic for it this year, if maybe a bit too hot. It should be a little cloudy this weekend but that will keep it cooler.
I thought I’d share some pictures that were just taken from it. These are NOT my pictures, they are from an article from the local newspaper with lots more pictures to see from The Orlando Sentinel here. As you can see, the ones I like the most are the hot babes and custom bikes!
You always see some crazy custom bikes, as well as very beautiful ones with fantastic paint jobs. I really like the one shaped as a burger! So anyway enjoy the pictures and click that link above for lots more of them. I’ll try to get out there and take my own soon!
I’ve talked about patchwork leather jackets and items before. But some still ask me why it’s bad, or am I sure that it’s not that great? Patchwork leather can also be called bonded leather, although it is put together a bit differently. Rock design, Italian brick work and a few other fancy names are used for it too.
When leather is cut to make a leather jacket, purse or any other leather item, small pieces of left-over leather are made. At some point someone decided that instead of throwing it away they would try to put it together and make a big sheet of it so they can use it for more leather products.
The way they smash it together is done in two ways. In one, the leather pieces are sewn together, with some glue also used. Then they usually coat it with crap to give it an even, smooth feel and try to waterproof all those needle holes. The other way is called bonded leather. (more…)
How do you waterproof leather boots? What’s the best way to clean leather boots? How should you condition leather boots? Well let me tell you! As I’ve said often in this site, leather is leather is leather. What I mean is that basically once you know how to clean, condition and seal, or what some call waterproof leather, it’s the same with all types of leather and all kinds of leather products.
I already have an article on how to do all that with your leather jacket. For the most part it’s the same with leather boots. Now, the leather in boots is normally treated a little different during the tanning process, but not much. It’s normally thicker, not as soft and often not as smooth, at least on the inside. Leather boots are normally made from cowhide, buffalo hide and pigskin.
No matter what type of leather hide it’s made of how you clean it, condition it and waterproof or seal your leather boots is the same. It always comes down to the three basic steps; cleaning the leather, conditioning the leather, and finally sealing, or waterproofing the leather. So lets start with cleaning the leather. You need to get leather cleaner, leather conditioner and leather sealer, or what some call waterproofing. (more…)
Well even though the folks down here in Florida can ride all year long, most of us put away our bikes for the winter. After a long winter it’s really nice to get that leather motorcycle jacket out and all the gear, go over it and get it ready for riding! Storing a leather jacket over the winter can be very easy or very harmful to it, depending on how you store it.
If you cleaned it good and conditioned it before putting it away in a cool dry place, chances are you don’t have to do anything to it. But lots of times we tend to throw our leather jacket in a corner somewhere, thinking we will get to it later. Then later becomes when you take it out in the spring!
Two of the most common problems you see when storing a leather jacket for the winter are drying and cracking, and mildew. The first problem comes from storing it in a hot and/or too dry place. The second comes from storing it in a damp and wet area, or putting it away with dirt on it. Winters seem to have both conditions in the same house! (more…)
