Tag: leather mildew

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Spring cleaning your leather jacket and motorcycle leathers

Leather jacket spring cleaning

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.
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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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Leather jacket spring cleaning

leather jacket spring cleaning

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!
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