Tag: mildew on leather

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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 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