Oil/Conditioner or not?

[polarWhite]

Hi all

Just picked up a couple of new Schott jackets (619 and Per28).

619 is described as hand oil naked cowhide whereas Per28 is described as heavy weight hand vintaged cowhide.

I have only dealt with hide with top coat in the past.

Should I just leave them alone or do I need to apply some kind of oil/conditioner on the hide?

If so, what would you recommend?

Thanks
PW

 

[Peacoat]

This question frequently presents itself.

New jackets don't need conditioner. But there is a counter position that conditioner helps with the break in process. This is especially true if the hide is heavy and difficult to soften with simply wearing it. The owner of the jacket is the only one who can make this decision.

 

[cbez]

Bick 4 will never hurt leather. It may slightly darken a very light natural leather.

 

[RDS]

Hi all

Just picked up a couple of new Schott jackets (619 and Per28).

619 is described as hand oil naked cowhide whereas Per28 is described as heavy weight hand vintaged cowhide.

I have only dealt with hide with top coat in the past.

Should I just leave them alone or do I need to apply some kind of oil/conditioner on the hide?

If so, what would you recommend?

Thanks
PW

Personally, I wouldn’t apply anything to either jacket and would leave well alone.
Other than possibly a light rub down with a damp cloth to remove any loose dirt or dust a decent leather jacket shouldn’t need any treatment or conditioner for a number of years.
More damage is likely to be caused by too frequent or too much conditioning.

 

[cbez]

More damage is likely to be caused by too frequent or too much conditioning.

I agree with you that it's not needed on a new jacket.

But, can you provide a single example of leather damaged by too much conditioning?

 

[raf]

New jacket? Leave it alone, unless very cheaply made. Older jacket? Clean it appropriately and apply some decent leather conditioner every couple of years. Less is often more.

If touching-up dyed finish, apply dye prior to re-conditioning. You may need multiple applications of dye for it to stably resemble original finish color.

One thing I do on my used (and unknown age) A-2 leather jackets is to apply some Pecard's leather oil to the appropriately cleaned sewn-through stitching on top shoulders, particularly on the stitching of the Epaulettes. Doing so kinda reduces water ingress at such stitching "sew-throughs".

A more advanced/elaborate approach would do the above, allowing the oil to dry/saturate stitching/leather for a few days, and then melt some Pecard's Paste and work the liquid paste into all the "through-stitching" penetrations, carefully allowing it to dry/solidify before removing excess.

Won't make a "raincoat" out of your leather jacket but will definitely help.

 

[Monitor]

You neither need nor want to do that. Leather conditioners are a ****.

 

[8 0722]

I wouldn't bother with new leather, even to ease break in.

 

[RDS]

I agree with you that it's not needed on a new jacket.

But, can you provide a single example of leather damaged by too much conditioning?

Admittedly not a jacket a friend was rather overzealous with both the quantity and frequency in their conditioning of a pair of boots. The leather became overly pliable and it ended up offering little support around the ankles with the toe box left soft.
However, I have seen it said (by others and not me) that the use of certain types of product will either rot stitching, or lead to the leather going rancid or mouldy but as yet none of those who’ve said this has shown any evidence of that happening.
Anyway, leather has been tanned and in normal use it really shouldn’t be necessary to treat a quality leather jacket, or least not for quite a few years.

 

[Peacoat]

Admittedly not a jacket a friend was rather overzealous with both the quantity and frequency in their conditioning of a pair of boots. The leather became overly pliable and it ended up offering little support around the ankles with the toe box left soft.
However, I have seen it said (by others and not me) that the use of certain types of product will either rot stitching, or lead to the leather going rancid or mouldy but as yet none of those who’ve said this has shown any evidence of that happening.
Anyway, leather has been tanned and in normal use it really shouldn’t be necessary to treat a quality leather jacket, or least not for quite a few years.

Exactly the same thing happened to a friend of mine who bought a new "English" saddle. He, too, was overzealous in the application of conditioner. The saddle flaps became overly pliable and moved under the stirrup leathers when they should have been stiff and stable.

So, yes, too much conditioner can ruin the leather.

 

[Carlos840]

Personally i have seen a brand new CXL jacket that was dry and getting surface cracks.
I applied a coat of Neatsfoot oil on it knowing this is what Horween applies to the leather as a final step at the factory.
It made the leather feel much nicer and a few years on it still feels pliable and is not surface cracking anymore.

I have also destroyed leather boots by only oiling them once a year, being afraid of "over conditionning" and they started to crack everywhere.

All that to say leather care varies depeding on situations, saying "Never apply conditionner to a new jacket" doesn't make sens considering Horween applies conditionner to the hides before they are even turned into a jacket, neither does saying "Condition a new jacket every 3 months" without knowing how you use your leather.

Maybe your new jacket is dry and needs conditionner, maybe your jacket won't need conditionner for 20 years because you wear it gently, maybe you are a motorcycle delivery rider who rides 10000 miles a month and you need to condition your jacket every three months for it to stay waterproof.

Use your eyes and your touch, think, don't just listen to strangers online giving you absolutes.

I use Pecards on my boots once through summer, three times through winter.
I have only ever had to condition one new leather jacket (the CXL one i mentionned above) and some 25+ years old jacket.

Just don't go crazy like the people who use a hair dryer to soak wax and fat into leather jackets, that's overkill.
Unless you are trying to really really waterproof leather boots, in which case applying Sno-Seal or Obenauf with a hairdryer is probably the right thing to do...

 

[RDS]

Personally i have seen a brand new CXL jacket that was dry and getting surface cracks.

You haven’t said how much the jacket cost but assuming it wasn’t something very, very cheap if a brand new leather jacket was dry and showing cracks then I’d suggest there was some sort of flaw with the tanning process and also question why that hide was selected to be made into a garment in the first place.

 

[Carlos840]

You haven’t said how much the jacket cost but assuming it wasn’t something very, very cheap if a brand new leather jacket was dry and showing cracks then I’d suggest there was some sort of flaw with the tanning process and also question why that hide was selected to be made into a garment in the first place.

The jacket was a Vanson Commando, made from Horween CXL, nothing cheap, nothing questionnable, just a natural product reacting slightly differently from another natural product...

The jacket was received new and conditionned 4 years ago, the cracking never came back or got worst.

Vanson Padded CXL Commando

I have been trying to write the full story of how i ended up getting this jacket made for a couple hours, but i don't seem to be able to write anything interresting right now. Still, i really wanted to post pics of this jacket, she is a beauty and i know you guys will enjoy it. Basically, last...

www.thefedoralounge.com

PS: it's the one that is slightly browner and doesn't have the mutton collar.

 

[Harris HTM]

have also destroyed leather boots by only oiling them once a year, being afraid of "over conditionning" and they started to crack everywhere.

I tend to baby most of my boots and shoes, never wear them two days in a row, use cedar shoe trees, brush them after every use and as a rule of thumb condition them (saphir d'or cream) every 15 wears of so.
The only notable exception is a pair of horween cxl no8 william lennon boots that I nowadays use for work at my garden. Haven't been cleaned or maintained in years and they still look and feel great.

 

[Carlos840]

I tend to baby most of my boots and shoes, never wear them two days in a row, use cedar shoe trees, brush them after every use and as a rule of thumb condition them (saphir d'or cream) every 15 wears of so.
The only notable exception is a pair of horween cxl no8 william lennon boots that I nowadays use for work at my garden. Haven't been cleaned or maintained in years and they still look and feel great.

I don't want to derail another thread, but it sounds like you and i have very different footwear and very different footwear use...
I wear the same boots most days, on and off the bike, in the streets, in the woods, in the fields.

If i don't slather my boots in pecards multiple times a year i end up with wet feet and cracked boots, been there done that.
I don't know when was the last time you tried walking through a wet field of grass in leather boots that haven't been greased/conditionned in 15 years, but it *****! Same thing with motorcycle riding in the rain, you need greased up boots...

Edit: the black ones are 13 years old, resoled once, worn pretty much daily.

 

[Harris HTM]

I don't want to derail another thread, but it sounds like you and i have very different footwear and very different footwear use...
I wear the same boots most days, on and off the bike, in the streets, in the woods, in the fields.

If i don't slather my boots in pecards multiple times a year i end up with wet feet and cracked boots, been there done that.
I don't know when was the last time you tried walking through a wet field of grass in leather boots that haven't been greased/conditionned in 15 years, but it *****! Same thing with motorcycle riding in the rain, you need greased up boots...

Edit: the black ones are 13 years old, resoled once, worn pretty much daily.

True, I am mainly at the office and whenever I have to go to project locations I am required to have certified safety boots on.
I would never ever dare to walk on a wet grassfield with my shell cordovan aldens on!