Cleaning a goat-skin leather jacket?

[zebedee]

Hose. Then put it inside a pillow case and into the washing machine. Cold wash, spin speed won't matter if it's in the pillow case. Remove from machine, put in a place where it can air dry for a few days. Done.

From what I've understood, this won't remove oils or waxes, damage stitching, etc. I would wear it for a couple of hours during the drying process. Don't apply heat at any point.

 

[handymike]

Pillow case is an interesting idea. I prefer the tub to the machine so I can lay it out flat while I gently move it around. I hate those “spider webs” that machines do to denim, and I want to avoid the extra wear to my leather goods.

 

[zebedee]

The pillow case protects the buttons and anything else that could snag. I'd only do this if a jacket was really, really dirty, or on those occasions where Shanghai municipal authorities have saturated an item in anti-covid liquid and then it's been sat in a depot for three weeks, damp.

 

[Laurus]

Goat is pretty sturdy stuff. Don’t worry about getting it wet, just use cold water and let it dry in a cool place over a few days.
Some of us throw jackets into the bathtub or even the washing machine. If it’s "caked" in mud, the hose might be the right way to go.

I thought I read on Vanson's website somewhere, that when you send them a jacket for reconditioning, the first thing they do is put it in an industrial washing machine. A TRUE motorcycle jacket can handle getting wet and roughed up, if not, it isn't a motorcycle jacket.

Not really sure if fashion or vintage jackets can handle being roughed up in a washing machine or not. as others have said, cold water only.

Goatskin is a tough hide. I'm sure an older mud-caked Langlitz or Aero could handle a washing machine. I think the thread, liner, and zippers become weak points on older jackets, you might want to evaluate and proceed with caution.

All my jackets are used for riding though....

A few pics might help.


Oh, and some of @Hh121 jackets, I would be more worried about the washing machine. lol.

You don't even know half of it. Hell, same could be said about my entire life! XD

But you know what, in all honesty, letting go of the Vanson Cheyenne is my only regret that doesn't seem to fade and I keep reminding myself that the damn jacket didn't even fit me. . .



It's really not a big deal & I've never once had any negative effects on any of the jackets I've machine-washed - On the contrary! - but yeah, I messed up these trousers because I deliberately didn't use slow cycle thus could've easily predicted something like this could have happened.

For instance... Man, wish I had before photos but this Schott trucker was half black, how filthy it was. It had greasy stains, grime all over it, cobwebs in the sleeves & mold. The jacket wasn't even brown! It was beige from dirt and dust.

I immediately threw it into the washing machine & conditioned it by spraying it with Lexol afterwards. Wore the jacket a couple of times as it was drying and look at the result!

Alright lads so a quick update. I ended up having to machine wash it which seemed to work well, slow cycle and rinse, cold water.

Then came the drying. I knew that direct sunlight was bad, and heat even worse, for leather. But also to prevent mold good airflow would be needed. So I in my infinite wisdom decided to put the jacket on the washing line overnight.

Unfortunately I then subsequently forgot about it until around 12pm today, sun was out and it was fairly warm (21 degrees Celsius) though not as warm as it has been or will be (going to reach 36 degrees here Monday, absolute nightmare).

I immediately brought it in when I remembered, it's certainly a bit stiff but not too bad, no cracks or damage that I can see. I've since slathered it in Bick 4, is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[Laurus]

The pillow case protects the buttons and anything else that could snag. I'd only do this if a jacket was really, really dirty, or on those occasions where Shanghai municipal authorities have saturated an item in anti-covid liquid and then it's been sat in a depot for three weeks, damp.

Also I did end up using a pillow case, worked perfectly!

 

[Kevin the Devon]

21C or 70F I would have thought perfect drying weather

 

[Monitor]

21C or 70F I would have thought perfect drying weather

Not under direct sunlight. Black leather will heat up way above that under the sun and can dry up if wet very quickly that way.

 

[CombatWombat]

It's goatskin mate......if it's Pakistani goatskin you should be able to put it in a cement mixer and all it would do is soften it up lol
I mean goatskin is literally full of lanolin (hence why the USN made G1 and M-442 out of it) and can take beatings that horse and cow just shrink up and dye thinking about lol