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.
But if they don’t open at all, or if they come unhooked then of course they are defective. See if the stitching that holds the zippers to the leather is good and tight. Reach into the pockets, I’ve had some leather coats where the pockets had been sewn shut! Check for any holes in the pockets and so on.
It’s not uncommon to find a little mildew around a snap, zipper or other hardware. Once the leather jacket has been made oil buildup around those parts are common. Add the fact that many get stored in plastic bags for months before being sold and you see why that happens. Most of the time you need to just clean the area the way I have said in my other post about mildew cleaning.
If your new leather coat or jacket has snaps take a good look at them, as well as all studs and hardware. Is there any rust or corrosion on them? A little discoloration is actually common on brass and copper hardware, that just needs a rubbing and cleaning. But rust is bad, and means the hardware is cheap.
Check to see if all the snaps and studs seem tight and secure to the leather. Then snap and unsnap the buttons, do they snap tight and clean? Did the leather coat come with a few extra snaps, most good ones have extra snaps and buttons. If it has buttons see if the threading is double stitched and not frayed.
Now for the inside of the leather jacket or coat. If it has a zip out liner take it out and inspect it for holes, frayed threads and so on. Did the zipper work well? Now take a look at the inside liner of the leather coat, check for holes, discoloration, loose threads and so on. Check the inside pockets if it has any.
So lets say you do all that and everything checks out, you’ve got a good quality leather jacket or coat. The very next thing you should do is clean the outside leather with a good leather cleaner. This not only gets dirt out of it, but it removes excess oil and buildup of gunk you don’t want on it.
Then once it’s cleaned apply leather conditioner to your leather jacket. It’s better to put too LITTLE on than too MUCH! Finally top it off with a good leather sealer to protect it from water stains and other liquids and dirt. Store your leather jacket or coat on a thick hanger WITHOUT plastic over it, someplace cool and dry.
That’s it, that’s how to inspect and get your new leather jacket or coat ready for use. Browse my other post for lots more information on how to clean, condition and care for your leather coat. If you find your new leather jacket is actually a cheap defective one,,, well,, what you do depends on who gave it to you and how much you like them!! 😉