Schott Perfecto 618 small white stains

Igohr Brennand · May 18, 2021

Dear All,

I have recently acquired a Schott perfecto, in a like-new state. Since I did not know how the former owner used to take care of it, I decided to condition it at least once and then use it without having to worry about it for the upcoming years.

I’ve used Saphir Revonateur for this conditioning proccess.

A few days ago, I was under a bit of rain (really only a little bit), not even enough to wet to leather or anything like that. The next morning when taking my jacket I noticed some small “white stains” marks which were caused by rain drops. I wiped out the jacket and it was all good. Again, yesterday, when submitted to a few drops of water (this time when I got home I wiped down most of the jacket in order to try it and left another piece “wet” to see). Today, again these small white stains.

Could this be a symptom of over conditioning ? Or simply the nature of the water rain itself ? I live in Belgium and the air here is known as not being particularly clean.

I uploaded some picture of the “stains”.

Monitor · May 18, 2021

Hi! That's a surprisingly beautiful leather for a 618. You got a great jacket, usually it's not that natural looking. I would've guessed 118 or something. Anyway...

Igohr Brennand said:
Could this be a symptom of over conditioning ?

No but it does have something to do with tanning.

On a certain type of leather, usually the kind without the heavy finish, water might bring out these white stains & while I'm not 100% what it is, I can tell you it's nothing you need to worry about. But yeah, I've seen this happen on a few jackets.

Igohr Brennand · May 18, 2021

Monitor said:
That's a surprisingly beautiful leather for a 618. You got a great jacket, usually it's not that natural looking. I would've guessed 118 or something. Anyway...

Thanks a lot man! Indeed the leather is so natural and its breaking in very nicely. When I got it, it was still kinda stiff.

Concerning the stains: what can be done other then just wiping it dry ? Nothing I guess ? And also, this is steerhide and I’m guessing its pretty tuff leather, but in case of it getting wet should I bother to condition it again or that would not be necessary ?

Monitor · May 18, 2021

Igohr Brennand said:
Thanks a lot man! Indeed the leather is so natural and its breaking in very nicely. When I got it, it was still kinda stiff.

Concerning the stains: what can be done other then just wiping it dry ? Nothing I guess ? And also, this is steerhide and I’m guessing its pretty tuff leather, but in case of it getting wet should I bother to condition it again or that would not be necessary ?

Just wipe off the stains, there's absolutely no need to condition the jacket anymore. That would be advisable only if the jacket got literally soaked & left to dry for a few days but little rain won't have any negative effect on it.

Harris HTM · May 18, 2021

Be careful with the Renovateur. It is great product but you must be careful how much and how often you use it. It is great for work boots, conditionally great for dress shoes and bags, but I wouldn't use it for a leather jacket - unless it was really dried out.
By the way, I live across your north border, I own a 618 since 2012, I've never conditioned it and never had any issue with rain or stains.
Don't condition it again, just wipe the stains with a slightly wet towel.

Igohr Brennand · May 18, 2021

Harris HTM said:
Be careful with the Renovateur. It is great product but you must be careful how much and how often you use it. It is great for work boots, conditionally great for dress shoes and bags, but I wouldn't use it for a leather jacket - unless it was really dried out.

]

Thanks for the advice! I also own a dubbin wax by Kaps. Would that be more fitted for a leather jacket ? Not saying that I would use it again any time soon, as you both advised me not to condition it again.

I used the Saphire Renovateur because of knowing it is a better product, but indeed I did not think that it might be "too much" if the leather was not particularly too dry.

Ps: Cool to know that you are just across the boarder mate! hahahaha

TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead · May 19, 2021

I'm echoing what Monitor said here, you sure that's a 618? I got a 618 and Per3 (which I'm pretty sure is the 600 series leather) and it looks nothing like that. Does it have the tag in the pocket indicating the model number? If it is 618 would love to know what year that was made (the 5th digit in the number, but then you have to guess the decade), because I"m going to be on the look out.

Igohr Brennand · May 19, 2021

Hello!

Yes, the pocket ticket indicates its a 618, also I was in contact with Jerri from Schott in order to try to identify the year, the 5th digit bring “7”, most likely 97 or 07 (given the other element as belt, tags, etc.).

Curious to know that the leather itself could vary substantially in the same model. Is it possible to you to put some pics of your jacket so we could maybe compare better, now I’m pretty curious.

Thanks for the reply btw

nattevagten · May 19, 2021

TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead said:
I'm echoing what Monitor said here, you sure that's a 618?

The leather varies a lot between Schott Perfectos of different eras. I have two 90s 618s and they are nothing like the modern 613 I have up for sale. The modern ones are made of much nicer and softer hides, IMO. Not very different from naked cowhide.

Carlos840 · May 19, 2021

Also a fellow Belgian here.
I have had these stains happen too, they are nothing to worry about.
I first noticed them when i started using a spray bottle to break in my jackets, i would use tap water that was hard and the water droplets would leave white marks as they dried.
I started using distilled water and noticed there where a lot less marks left behind.
Rain contains small amounts of minerals, dust, particles, a bunch of stuff that can leave a slight residue behind.

Interrestingly the stains left behind can vary from day to day.
Some days you can walk in the rain and the water will leave no marks at all, other days as soon as the water dries your jacket looks like it was dragged in the dust.
I think it depends on the amount of polution/dust in the air on the specific day...

If i have really bad marks i just wipe them down with a damp cloth, it usually takes care of them.
THere is really no need to condition the jacket because of that, and no need to worry about wearing it in the rain, just do it.

Will Zach · May 19, 2021

Could be pollen, too. Plenty of it in May.

Igohr Brennand · May 19, 2021

Carlos840 said:
Interrestingly the stains left behind can vary from day to day.
Some days you can walk in the rain and the water will leave no marks at all, other days as soon as the water dries your jacket looks like it was dragged in the dust.
I think it depends on the amount of polution/dust in the air on the specific day...

Knowing the nature of air pollution in Belgium, I wouldn’t be surprised indeed if that would be one of the main reason for these stains.

Also, apparently, this particular leather on the jacket is very natural-looking which could indicate (right?) that less treatment was used during the tanning process, as it was mentioned by Monitor.

Carlos840 said:
I have had these stains happen too, they are nothing to worry about.

What kind of leather is your jacket made of ? Is it also a Schott ? Maybe indeed its a combination of the tanning process and the ‘acidic’ nature of belgian rain hahahaha (which is fucked up btw).

navetsea · May 19, 2021

is there any active volcanoes in your region, here in my country rain water can deposit fine residue stain from volcano activity. rag with vinegar water, can easily clean simple stain and mold stain.

TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead · May 19, 2021

Igohr Brennand said:
Hello!

Yes, the pocket ticket indicates its a 618, also I was in contact with Jerri from Schott in order to try to identify the year, the 5th digit bring “7”, most likely 97 or 07 (given the other element as belt, tags, etc.).

Curious to know that the leather itself could vary substantially in the same model. Is it possible to you to put some pics of your jacket so we could maybe compare better, now I’m pretty curious.

Thanks for the reply btw

sure thing. Now with some close ups, you know, it actually looks closer than I thought.

1970s 618. A little soft, very pliable, but also a little plastic feeling. Thinnest of the 3 below:

641xx, 2006 I think. Very soft to touch almost like aniline but very rigid, not in a plastic sort of way like the above. Just stiff. Medium thickness.

Per 3 (very little info on it). I think 2010 and not officially a 600 series leather but I'm pretty sure it's similar. Very top coat heavy, almost gritty/sandy feeling. I can tell it's super soft underneath. Very pliable. Hoping this evolves into something special with a lot more wears.

Side by side:

top 618, middle 641xx, bottom Per3

Carlos840 · May 19, 2021

Igohr Brennand said:
What kind of leather is your jacket made of ? Is it also a Schott ? Maybe indeed its a combination of the tanning process and the ‘acidic’ nature of belgian rain hahahaha (which is fucked up btw).

I have around 50 leather jackets and have seen it happen on a lot of different ones.
I think it's related to what the rain is like that day more than tannage, sometimes it's very visible sometimes not.
Either way it's really not something you shoudl be worrying about.
Unless you live in a place with constant super high humidity where mould might become a problem your jacket will do fine getting rained on.

Igohr Brennand · May 20, 2021

TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead said:
sure thing. Now with some close ups, you know, it actually looks closer than I thought.

Indeed, inspecting in a closer manner, we can definitely see the similarities. Especially with the first and third jacket (I’d say mine is more of a “mix” of both textures hahaha.) I took some more pictures to compare, here they are:

Igohr Brennand · May 20, 2021

Carlos840 said:
I have around 50 leather jackets and have seen it happen on a lot of different ones.
I think it's related to what the rain is like that day more than tannage, sometimes it's very visible sometimes not.
Either way it's really not something you shoudl be worrying about.
Unless you live in a place with constant super high humidity where mould might become a problem your jacket will do fine getting rained on.

wow! Thats an amazing number, mate. And thanks for all the information, I’m at ease knowing now that it is something that I shouldn’t worry about. When cleaning with a lightly wet rag, im using now some filtered water and it seems to be more suited for removing any particular “stain”.

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