Has anyone ruined a leather jacket from a dry cleaners “leather cleaning” service?

[Sirkrimzon]

I purchased a vintage leather jacket and I have OCD and always clean my garments before wearing them. Some of my local dry cleaners are asking for $75 for a two week long cleaning process for leather garments as they cannot be traditionally dry cleaned. Have any of you ever use such a service and have had positive results? I’m a little bit worried that they are going to damage the finish or characteristics of the leather.

 

[Hide'n'seek]

I purchased a vintage leather jacket and I have OCD and always clean my garments before wearing them. Some of my local dry cleaners are asking for $75 for a two week long cleaning process for leather garments as they cannot be traditionally dry cleaned. Have any of you ever use such a service and have had positive results? I’m a little bit worried that they are going to damage the finish or characteristics of the leather.

don't do it. Dry cleaning is far to harsh and can ruin jackets. Even places that claim to be leather specialists should be avoided.

 

[photo2u]

I do not trust dry cleaners. Most of them, do not do the work themselves. Their leather garments get sent to another location where in my view could lead to problems. Bottom line, do the work yourself. Cleaning a leather jacket takes time and some effort. There are many comments here that I value much more than any cleaners out there. Good luck with your project and remember, you can always ask here for help. There are many who have probably dealt with the same problem you are currently dealing with.

 

[Carlos840]

I purchased a vintage leather jacket and I have OCD and always clean my garments before wearing them. Some of my local dry cleaners are asking for $75 for a two week long cleaning process for leather garments as they cannot be traditionally dry cleaned. Have any of you ever use such a service and have had positive results? I’m a little bit worried that they are going to damage the finish or characteristics of the leather.

I owuld not do that, most leather jacket cleaning can be done at home in the tub or in your washing machine, it's much safer.

 

[AeroFan_07]

Try searching, this has been well covered in a few threads already.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/washing-leather-jackets.114328/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/biker-jacket-cleaning.114669/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/horsehide-leather-jacket-care-maintenance.94183/

 

[ParkerFM]

I purchased a vintage leather jacket and I have OCD and always clean my garments before wearing them. Some of my local dry cleaners are asking for $75 for a two week long cleaning process for leather garments as they cannot be traditionally dry cleaned. Have any of you ever use such a service and have had positive results? I’m a little bit worried that they are going to damage the finish or characteristics of the leather.

Many many years ago I had a leather jacket dry cleaned by a (so-called) leather dry cleaning specialist.
It had a great shiny gold colored quilted lining - the cleaning process stripped black dye out of the leather, staining my glorious gold quilted lining.
After the dry cleaning process, the stained lining also now hung lower than the bottom edge of the jacket, and the sleeve linings were visible at the end of the sleeves - I could never quite decide whether the process shrunk the leather, and not the lining, or caused the lining to stretch.
The lining was replaced.

 

[Sirkrimzon]

don't do it. Dry cleaning is far to harsh and can ruin jackets. Even places that claim to be leather specialists should be avoided.

It’s not true dry cleaning according to them but a special send out leather cleaning service. Whatever that means

 

[semolina_pilchard]

I still wouldn’t trust them, unless you’re willing to accept that it may come back damaged. You can clean and condition the outside yourself if needed, and clean the inside too. I would not send any of my leather jackets to a cleaning company as they won’t care about the jacket anywhere near as much as I do. Good luck whatever you choose!

 

[Sirkrimzon]

I still wouldn’t trust them, unless you’re willing to accept that it may come back damaged. You can clean and condition the outside yourself if needed, and clean the inside too. I would not send any of my leather jackets to a cleaning company as they won’t care about the jacket anywhere near as much as I do. Good luck whatever you choose!

Fair. Thanks. I decided I’m going to try and clean it myself. How would you recommend I clean the inside? It is some sort of lining

 

[AeroFan_07]

Just wash it in your washing machine on the Delicate or Gentle cycle. Use Cold water.
Use a non-perfume detergent (such as Woolite or Tide Free & Clear) so you do not give it an artificial odor
Ideally turn the jacket inside out and run it once that way, then back to normal and run it again.

*The Bigger Concern* - Do not use any heat at all as you dry it. Using heat will shrink your jacket. Just hang it and leave it with maybe a simple fan blowing on it for ~ 24-48 hours. One it's nearly dry, start very gently applying a mild liquid leather conditioner such as Lexol. Go sparingly over the whole jacket, do not over-condition it. Use several steps or treatments.

 

[Carlos840]

Fair. Thanks. I decided I’m going to try and clean it myself. How would you recommend I clean the inside? It is some sort of lining

If it is a modern jacket in good condition with strong stitching, you should be fine in the washing machine (front loader, wool/gentle cycle) with some wool cleaner (regular detergent degrades protein, leather is made from proteins, don't use regular detergent).
I think i used Lexol Leather cleaner back then.

If the jacket is old and the stitching might be tired, wash it in the tube with the same wool cleaner.

These are pics i took a few years ago when i was cleaning a jacket.

Wash:

Once clean i let it dry on a drying rack with a couple towels laid on the rack first.

THE TOWELS ARE IMPORTANT!
If you lay the jacket straight on the drying rack the metal wire will leave marks.
DON"T FORGET THE TOWELS.

Very important, don't try to stretch the jacket when it is wet.
I have read multiple stories of people who try to stretch a wet jacket by doing pushups and stupid stuff like that and end up tearing/damaging it.

Wet leather is more likely to tear at the seams, don't try to stretch it.

Once the jacket is 95% dry you can wear it so that it molds to you, but don't do crazy flexing/stretching.
I then apply some leather conditionner to the jacket, i like Pecard, everyone has their favourite.
I like to apply the conditionner before the jacket is fully dry so the leather never has an opportunity to get hard. (wet leather hardens when fully dry)
Don't go crazy with the conditionner, apply thinly, let sit for 24h and buff off with cloth.

Good luck

 

[AeroFan_07]

^^ Really nice write-up there @Carlos840 -- I may try this technique on a jacket I have incoming.

 

[Sirkrimzon]

If it is a modern jacket in good condition with strong stitching, you should be fine in the washing machine (front loader, wool/gentle cycle) with some wool cleaner (regular detergent degrades protein, leather is made from proteins, don't use regular detergent).
I think i used Lexol Leather cleaner back then.

If the jacket is old and the stitching might be tired, wash it in the tube with the same wool cleaner.

These are pics i took a few years ago when i was cleaning a jacket.

Wash:

Once clean i let it dry on a drying rack with a couple towels laid on the rack first.

THE TOWELS ARE IMPORTANT!
If you lay the jacket straight on the drying rack the metal wire will leave marks.
DON"T FORGET THE TOWELS.

Very important, don't try to stretch the jacket when it is wet.
I have read multiple stories of people who try to stretch a wet jacket by doing pushups and stupid stuff like that and end up tearing/damaging it.

Wet leather is more likely to tear at the seams, don't try to stretch it.

Once the jacket is 95% dry you can wear it so that it molds to you, but don't do crazy flexing/stretching.
I then apply some leather conditionner to the jacket, i like Pecard, everyone has their favourite.
I like to apply the conditionner before the jacket is fully dry so the leather never has an opportunity to get hard. (wet leather hardens when fully dry)
Don't go crazy with the conditionner, apply thinly, let sit for 24h and buff off with cloth.

Good luck

Thank you. I think I’m going to try this

 

[zebedee]

When/if you put it in a washing machine (on a cold wash - don’t use heat or detergent), put it inside a pillow case. I’ve washed three or four jackets this way. If the lining is a lighter colour, you will get dye bleed in all likelihood.

Whereas I’ve never noticed any damage, I doubt that it does the jacket any good. The jackets I washed were old and I was not overly concerned about them. One was soaked through with anti-covid treatment at customs, so I had to clean it. A tub wash is probably safer.