Answer me these questions three....

[dave_xb12r]

My A* leather jacket is aging. It looks faded and it smells funny.

How do I clean it? Lexol?

How do I make it look new again? Cheetah blood?

Should I put on some sort of weather proofing? Crisco?

 

[Stevenc150]

Maguire's Leather cleaner & Maguire's Conditioner from WalMart. Use it on my stuff and it does wonders.

Edit: Gold Class Rich Leather Aloe Conditioner

 

[Supermanrider]

how to clean a leather jacket

 

[rndrkeagle]

the best recommendation I can make is this...

800-438-2577 AlpineStars USA HQ. Customer service. I am about to have to send mine leather jacket in to them for some minor out of warranty repair. (one of the strips of beaded leather near the zipper is worn through and the shoulders are dried to the point they're cracking and chaffed. AlpineStars takes good care of their customers. There's a reason they're the #1 rated maker of riding gear.

 

[Stevenc150]

^^Another excellent reason to use Conditioner^^

 

[rndrkeagle]

shoulders are dried to the point they're cracking and chaffed

you talking about this part Steven? yeah... I bought this jacket used.. I actually get to say that the previous owner did that... I got a good deal on it though... it's a $500 jacket new.. I got it for $125.. so after paying A*'s another 150 for repairs, I'll still have a $500 jacket for less than $300.

On a side note though... I would caution against generic leather conditioners.. they are made to keep the leather soft a supple.. (smooth as a baby's butt kinda thing.) This is NOT what you want in your riding gear... Hard and durable are desirable attributes of a good riding jacket.. A*'s actually tests the toughness of their leathers after tanning and coloring to see how well they handle abrasions.. Turns out red dyes leave the leather tougher than blue dyes... go figure... (learned this from an episode of Twist the Throttle on Discovery Channel.)

 

[afinley]

i do a combo of saddle soap and cheetah blood. I also use the Lexol stuff. I prefer the Lexol for my car, saddle soap for my clothes.

edit: and no, for the weather proofing. get rain gear.

 

[dave_xb12r]

Afinley, where are you getting your cheetah blood these days? The black market just isn't the same in this economic situation. Bobcat blood just seems to make things shrink too much. [sad]

 

[Stevenc150]

Here in KY - Bobcat blood for $29/quart or $100/gallon. PM me.

 

[afinley]

Serengetis'R'us.

It's hard to, ahem, chase down, but its worth it.

What color jacket is it? Don't forget that shoe polish is also a conditioner. It isnt very helpful if its a white jacket, though. With winter coming, it may be a good idea to just polish up the whole thing if its black, and then put it away in the closet. Come spring, saddle soap it up and ride. I polish my boots every week, and soap up my jacket about as often. I'm not looking for buttery, so much as bug-free.