I know I made a post a while ago about caring for your leather jacket in the winter. Most people who have leather motorcycle jackets store them all winter long. I’ll just give a brief recap of how to best store your leather motorcycle jacket today, because I can’t think of anything else to say today!
Many times in the fall when you get ready to put your leather motorcycle jacket away you are too busy to really do a good job of it. You hang it up thinking “next week I’ll take it back out, clean it and really store it good”. But now it’s January and you just remembered that steam that goes into your closet from the radiator!
The best thing you can do right now is take it out and give it a good look over. Did you clean it good so dirt and crap is not stuck in the zippers, hardware and pockets? Now that you have more time in the long winter days you should get your leather motorcycle jacket out and clean it good. Wipe it down, brush it off and go over the buttons and snaps with a toothbrush to get out dirt.
Then use a light coat of leather conditioner on it to treat the leather fibers. A LIGHT coat, not thick so it clogs up the pores. This will help prevent it from drying out in the dry air. I do NOT recommend putting sealer on it at this time. If it’s just going to hang there all winter, there is no worry about getting anything on it.
So by not having sealer on it, it can breath more and not have as much chance of getting mildew on it. Of course you do not store it in a plastic bag, or any bag. Use a thick wooden hanger so your leather jacket does not get hanger marks in it. Hanging it up is always better than laying it down. It lets air circulate around it better, and you don’t get marks in the leather from buttons and snaps.
Also any leather fringe can hang down full length and not get kinked. Hang it in a cool dry place, not hot. Don’t hang it by your water heater or above radiators. If by any chance mildew does grow on it, see my post on how to remove mildew. Then when you finally take it out of storage you can put a sealer coat on it. That’s it, I’ll have a better post next time!