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[Specter]

Good Morning Everybody:
I have a leather riding vest I wear.  Many bikers have them, with their numerous patches, flags, and stuff on them.

Problem is, vest is leather, the patches typically are some sort of cloth.

Patches get dirty and grimy.

How is the best way to clean them?  Obviously you can't throw it into the washing machine, it's leather, but what is the best way to clean the patches so they are not all dirty and grimy looking?  How do you clean yours?

Thank you
Aaron

[Curt]

I'd hold the leather over the sink, patch side down. Dampen the patch, spray with a little cleaner, and scrub with a brush. Continuing to hold it upside down, rinse by brushing with plenty of water, and dab dry.

Cleaners can be hard on leather, as they remove the oils. Try gentler ones first, like Dawn dish soap, Woolite, or Oxy Clean. Inorganic stains are virtually impossible to get out completely.

For a new or freshly cleaned patch, mask off and apply Scotch Guard spray protection.

[Specter]

thanks curt.
They are well, grey, got the road dirt, bug guts and normal rider grime on them.  Looking to clean them up a bit w/o trashing the leather vest out if I can.  I'll give that a shot and see how it does.  I'll probably use dawn dish soap.  Just had to use it on the bird the other day, he got into some grease somewhere and I had to give him a bath,  little asshole.

Aaron

[Curt]

Haha, silly bird!

I got my favorite jacket in 2003, a Troy Lee Alpinestars leather in red/write/black. I wore it to shreds using it every day. It gets to where the paint comes off the leather and there's nothing you can do, it just looks bad. Around 2019, I managed to find an EXACT duplicate that someone kept in their closet in Ireland!

[Specter]

Oh cool that you got a replica.  You can get a custom jacked made but that costs some money there.  The paint I hear can be redone, or they can re install new parts on a jacket that is wearing out until it is really ratty but with a little care, that should be many years, unless it hit the pavement a few times, then all bets are off

Aaron