Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Specter]

Just a general question for the masses if I may.

How do you all clean your leathers, be it jackets or suits?

What soaps or conditioners do you use, or professional services, and about how often?

Curious how others handle theirs.

Thanks
Aaron

[jotjotde]

I made it to my routine to clean my leathers immediately after a ride because if you wait too long, the stuff dries up and cleaning takes longer.
For that quick clean I use  leather care wipes (e.g. from Armour All).

End of season I use a leather cleaner and then leather oil on beeswax basis. The cleaner and conditioner that came with my Dainese work also pretty well. I assume, they can be safely used for other manufacturer's stuff. For application I use these round soft sponges you can get everywhere.

And then there's always the option to get a professional cleaner to work on your leathers, but I that comes with some setbacks.
You have to remove all protectors first. If you have fixed protectors, e.g. externals, they probably will be scuffed in the course of the cleaning. I have a Revit textile jacket which I send to the cleaner after each season and that works well, but I would trust them to treat my Dainese suit.

[Richard230]

I clean my leathers with saddle soap, followed by a leather conditioner, of which I have several brands, all of which are pretty good. My son-in-law conditions his leathers with neatsfoot oil, or something like that. It stinks and feels greasy, so I use a more modern product.

[Curt]

I used to try to clean leathers with mild soap, leather cleaners and conditioners and eventually harsher things like Dawn and Simple Green. But I found that the type of grime they accumulate really couldn't be cleaned off effectively, especially off the white parts. Bugs maybe, but not asphalt spatter and chain grease. So an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Then I get a new set of leathers every 10 years, since after that long they are generally suffering from the wear (tears, loose stitches, malfunctioning zippers, rain and sun damage, abrasions, etc).

[Starpower]

Lexol  cleaner and conditioner has been my go to for decades.

[Specter]

Thanks for the inputs so far.

Dawn Soap is Harsh?  Hmm,  that is the soap they use to clean birds they drag out of oil slicks etc.  But I guess on leathers it could leech out elements you need IN there as part of it's 'cleaning'  process.

Mine have been soaked badly a time or two getting caught in the rain, and of course road grime and I am wondering the best ways to clean them, keep them in best shape as possible w/o getting obsessive on it.

Curt,so you are saying that once the white parts get grimy, it's really hard to get them clean again, they are pretty much done?

I wonder what a careful app of a gentler say, oxy bleach might do to help re claim your whites?

Aaron

[Curt]

Curt,so you are saying that once the white parts get grimy, it's really hard to get them clean again, they are pretty much done?

Yes. The problem is that like car seats, colored leathers are painted. Once the paint wears off, you're left with indelible dark creases and spots. The paint also marginalizes the utility of leather conditioners, cleaners and preservatives. There are people who can repaint leather. My brother does that with car seats at his used car dealership and gets good results as far as I know, but for a jacket...?

[Demoni]

I use the leather care kit that came with my Dainese suit, it consists of a cleaner and a protection cream. I suspect these are similar to the products offered for car seat care like the 2 part kit sold by Lexol.
The cleaner works well to remove the dirt the builds up from road use. The cream is used to moisturize the leather preventing it from cracking and also has give some UV protection against direct sun light.
I try to treat my leathers every 6-8 months.

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is great for cleaning white leather. It is an abrasive so make sure you are gentile, if your leather has a protective coating it can cause damage.

If your suit has a removable liner make sure you remove and wash it often. Hang your leathers up and let them air dry after use, especially if you got them wet.
Wearing a moisture wicking base layer really helps keep your suit fresh for longer. Plug it makes getting out of your suit a lot easier.

Worst case there are companies that offer leather suit cleaning services, just make sure you use a company that specializes in moto suits.

[jotjotde]

I can confirm what @Demoni suggested, the Dainese stuff is quite good and you don't need much of it. Wearing undergarments helps to avoid skin contact on the inside - dead skin cells, fatty acids plus bacteria are the main cause of smell.

White leather is very hard to maintain. As @Curt already said earlier it is like a coat of paint, i.e. it comes off when rubbed too hard. Bleach could do damage as well.
I once had a suit with some white applications and sent it to a cleaner speicialised in moto suits in the hope that some stains would go away. I learned afterwards that due to cleaning and drying the leather becomes stiff, so they pack the suit into a tumbler to soften it up again. You can imagine that did not help the already scuffed white leather. But the remaining white was a bit brighter than before 

[Specter]

Good info everyone, thank you.
Im wondering because I've been caught in some horrible storms so far, NOT by choice and come home looking like a drowned fkn rat. I mean I was soaked, hailed on, just miserable, and the leathers weighed probably 10 lbs more from being water soaked and im like, well shit, how do I fix this mess,  I let it dry in the garage hanging, it was hot, dryish but not direct sunlight.  However with that, the grime and crap gets on and was looking, what is the best way to get this off, and keep the leathers in their best shape, afterall, we paid a LOT for some of these.  My track / racing suit is going to be multi colored and being it's a 'racing' suit, im sure it's going to get it's wear sweat wise, and want to know how to keep it in the best shape for the longest time.

Aaron