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Too much leather conditioner on your leather jacket causes mildew

Don't put too much conditioner on your leather jacket!

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.
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How to clean, condition and waterproof leather boots

how to clean, condition and waterproof leather boots

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.
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What to do when you get a leather jacket or coat for a gift

How to care for your new leather jacket gift

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I roasted a full chicken and really pigged out, lol. Many people will get a leather jacket or coat for Christmas. Many boyfriends and husbands will get their girlfriends or wife a nice winter leather coat or jacket. Many times this is the first leather coat they ever had. So, they are not sure what to do with it.

Should they clean it? Does it need waterproofing stuff on it? Does it need sealer? Well let me tell you the basics of what to do if you get a new leather coat for Christmas, or anytime as a gift. First, you want to inspect it and be sure nothing is wrong with it so you can return it if you have to. Take a look all over the outside of the leather coat.

See if there are any rips, holes, burns, flaking or even discoloring on the leather. Next inspect all the outside stitching on the leather jacket. Is there any threads cut, pulled out, nicked or worn? Now inspect any zippers on all the pockets, vents and so on. Zip them open and closed several times. New zippers may be a little stiff. Continue reading What to do when you get a leather jacket or coat for a gift

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Care of leather jackets in the winter and cold

care of leather jackets in the winter and cold

When winter comes most people put away their leather motorcycle jackets. Unless your down south like Florida where I am. In that case it’s perfect for biking at this time of year! But even if your up north there still are plenty of fashion leather jackets and shearling leather jackets made for the winter to wear as all around jackets and coats.

Most have no idea what, if any, extra care should be done with leather jackets in the winter time. There are a few things you should do to help your leather jacket make it through the winter months as best as possible, as well as things not to do. The number one enemy of leather jackets in the cold winter months is drying out from the cold dry air. Continue reading Care of leather jackets in the winter and cold

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How to remove mildew from leather jackets

Hello everyone, nice day here in Florida. As much as I like it here in Florida, the humidity is not the best for leather. So today I’ll tell you how to get rid of mildew on leather jackets, or anything leather for that matter. Of course the best thing is to prevent it from forming in the first place. So lets see just why mildew forms on leather in the first place.

Ironically, most of the reason why mildew forms on leather has nothing to do with the leather itself, but the oils you put on it to keep it soft and in good shape. The worst thing you can do is put too much oil, or rather leather conditioner, on your leather jacket or item. Leather needs oils to lubricate the leather fibers to stop them drying out and cracking.

But if you put too much on, or use heavy junk, then the leather can’t breath. Soon moisture forms in the leather and oil, and mildew forms. You may notice that mildew often forms around seams, studs, snaps and places like that. That’s because when you put leather conditioner on it’s easy to let too much build up in those cracks and corners.

So you end up with a pool of oil in those areas, stopping the leather from breathing and forming mildew. When you put leather conditioner on it’s important to make sure you don’t let it build up in those areas. Leather braids are another problem area for that. Just remember a little oil goes a long way with leather. Continue reading How to remove mildew from leather jackets