Tarnished Brass Zippers and a Question about Cal-Leather

Howdy folks,
I’m hoping to get a little advice from all you sage loungers and jacket aficionados.
I have just taken possession of a very nice Cal-Leather CHP style leather jacket, but it’s a bit of a diamond in the rough. There are a few minor issues but it’s beautiful leather and a pretty good fit. One of the things that I would like to rectify is the tarnish on the main zipper. The zipper pull says Talon, and the teeth have a greenish-black tarnish on them. I am wondering how hard is it to get it back to a natural brass color. I was thinking of looking for a Dremel tool with a little buffing wheel, but I really don’t know what the best approach is. The jacket also has a cigarette smell that I am trying to air out. No doubt it was hanging out in biker bars back in the day!

Another thing that I am considering is sending the jacket to Cal-Leather in Ventura, CA, and having them clean and condition it. I know that they offer this service. Has anyone sent a jacket to Cal-Leather to be cleaned up? Would their service restore the look of zipper and remove the old cigarette smell?

Thank you

It's worth contacting them, they seem to have good service and even offer several used Cal's right on their website. The zipper could be tried with some brass polish, (not sure it that would affect the leather however) and a good soft toothbrush. It will take time.

Cigarette odor is nasty and exceptionally difficult to ever get out of leather. (My apologies & no offense what so ever to any smokers on here). I've tried a lot of options, including once having the jacket "professionally cleaned" and it still came back after a few weeks. Many of these have simply been moved on.

Kane said:

Howdy folks,
I’m hoping to get a little advice from all you sage loungers and jacket aficionados.
I have just taken possession of a very nice Cal-Leather CHP style leather jacket, but it’s a bit of a diamond in the rough. There are a few minor issues but it’s beautiful leather and a pretty good fit. One of the things that I would like to rectify is the tarnish on the main zipper. The zipper pull says Talon, and the teeth have a greenish-black tarnish on them. I am wondering how hard is it to get it back to a natural brass color. I was thinking of looking for a Dremel tool with a little buffing wheel, but I really don’t know what the best approach is. The jacket also has a cigarette smell that I am trying to air out. No doubt it was hanging out in biker bars back in the day!

Another thing that I am considering is sending the jacket to Cal-Leather in Ventura, CA, and having them clean and condition it. I know that they offer this service. Has anyone sent a jacket to Cal-Leather to be cleaned up? Would their service restore the look of zipper and remove the old cigarette smell?

Thank you

Click to expand...

I get a reply from Cal leather others here would be interested in hearing they still answering the phone or emails

I would be very careful with those zipper teeth. An aggressive cleaning might loosen or even pull some teeth from the tape. If you do try it, lay the tape on a hard surface to keep it flat and brush manually with a soft brush. The Dremel sounds good, but it would be too easy to get too deep and pull off a tooth.

The odor will be difficult. There are some posts on this forum about washing the jacket in water and detergent to get it clean. Do some research… it may be the only way. Another option would be to put it in a bag with an ozone generator. I’ve had good luck with ozone removing organic odors, but I’ve never tried tobacco smoke.

Probably the best idea is sending it to Cal-Leather for a good cleaning.

Lemon juice works good to clean brass. You can add salt, baking soda, or just mix with water. Google removing patina on bronze watch to help you out. The lemon juice will help mask the smell too!

The ozone generator works great for smoke. I've never used a bag though. I bought a car that was previously owned by a heavy smoker, one of those smokers with the windows up, but it was a steal and otherwise pristine. It took a few applications but worked! I also use it in small enclosed places for my business, but not for heavy smoke. Airing out the jacket on a porch or garage works great too. I hear baking soda works for smoke but never tried it for leather.

Good luck!

Re. the smell tho worked for me.
I posted this on another forum.
No idea if it will wok for fag smell though.

http://suzannecarillo.com/remove-bad-smells-from-leather-or-suede/

"I have just received a leather jacket that the previous owner had never worn and put into storage, the problem is it reeks of naphthalene so he must have put it away with moth balls.
I went to the post office yesterday to pick it up and I took it out of the box to have a look, I noticed the smell right away.
I put the jacket in my car and went back to get some shopping, when I got back to car the mothball smell was so overpowering i had to wind down all the windows to able to drive home.

Now some people are more picky than others, I am not a picky person, but the smell of the jacket is incredibly strong, I have a bad cold and can hardly smell anything as it is.

I tried the girls coffee method in the link last night.
I used coffee beans because that was all I had.
The same as her I cut up a pair of tights, I had a 1 kg bag of beans so I divided up into four 250g lots.
I put the jacket with the coffee beans in a plastic bin liner and tied it it up.

I checked after about three hours and the smell was way better.
I checked this morning and the mothball smell was very feint and there now is a coffee smell, not overpowering but you can smell it.
I have put it back in the bag to see what happens.

Now I don't know if this will really work, the moth ball smell may have eventually gone but then again it may have stayed. I think it would have taken a hell of a long time to dissipate.
The mothball stink may still be there and only masked by the coffee and if the coffee wears off it might still there or hopefully they will both just go around the same time if the mothball smell is just being masked.

Only time will tell but a jacket with a slight coffee odour is wearable, a pungent mothball stink is useless.

I will post updates as to what happens.
I have taken the jacket out of the bag again after leaving again overnight and no mothball smell.
I have found that nothing I have ever tried has really made a big difference to a bad smell. when you google for solutions baking soda comes up the most but the vast majority do not tell you is that you need to change it every 24 hours, something I have never done so maybe that's why it has never worked for me.
Kitty litter likewise has not worked for me.
I am amazed at the effects of coffee beans, 80% of the smell gone after three hours and virtually all gone overnight."

I can't recall what I used, possibly a lemon juice/water mixture, vinegar, or just plain water; but I had success in removing the green verdigris on the brass of an old Langlitz. I used several q-tips. Just note that verdigris isn't really mold or anything to worry about. I think some collectors appreciate it iirc.

Once I have removed the verdigris, I apply a small amount of wax, I really like Renaissance micro-wax, to the brass to help keep it from coming back. Especially on side lace and underarm brass eyelets, where this green stuff seems to always grow.

Thanks very much for the great help here. Verdigris. That’s the word I was looking for. Is it purely cosmetic, or is it bad and needs to go? And is it indicative of a zipper that has been sitting unused for a time, or does it show up on all brass regardless of how actively it sees service?

I don’t think it’s 100% cosmetic, as it gets under the brass eyelets and can loosen and separate them from the leather, but it certainly isn’t end of the world stuff. Easy to fix and then prevent.