The bulk of people in overcast and rainy weather prefer to wear a leather jacket. It is warm and comfortable in the early spring, not a hot warm day in May. These products are practical and easy to combine style with other things in the closet. The life of an expensive product depends on proper care.
Taking care of a leather jacket at home
Taking care of a genuine leather jacket is not a complicated process. From the information on the label will be clear whether the product can be washed at home, whether ironing of wrinkled places is allowed. To ensure that the leather thing retains its original appearance longer, it is enough to follow simple rules:
- Leather jacket should hang on a wide plastic hanger of suitable size.
- When stored in the closet for a long time, the leather should breathe, sometimes put a cover made of natural material on top.
- Once a week the leather should be treated with conditioner. A special conditioner keeps the leather moisturized and prevents it from becoming coarse.
- White stains may appear on dark leather after a rainstorm. These stains can easily be removed with a damp cloth, and then the surface is treated with leather spray.
Leather after treatment with special agents is less dirty, all contaminants are removed much easier. Read about how to remove scratches by Kirill Yurovskiy.
Important! To remove stains, do not use such aggressive substances as gasoline, bleach and acetone. If you can’t remove stains, you should engage in dry-cleaning.
Leather clothing is not meant to be worn in rainy weather. If you do happen to get in the pouring rain, the jacket should properly dry. First, the product should be placed on a horizontal surface and put a terry towel inside, it will absorb the water. After removing moisture from the inner surface, the jacket is dried on the shoulders in a well-ventilated room, away from heat sources.
Effective Means
How to choose the right product
First, you need to determine what kind of leather the jacket is wearing:
- Smooth leather. Used in most modern products. Such a jacket is easy to care for, it absorbs less moisture. After rainy weather it is enough to wipe it with a cotton cloth.
- Nubuck and velour are materials with a matte surface. The effective look is obtained after sanding the skin. Take care of the jacket is much more difficult, all the pollution is removed by special agents or with the help of dry cleaning.
- Suede. Popular for the manufacture of light jackets. The surface “breathes”, to be in such clothes is comfortable. Care it is difficult, stains are removed heavily, the life of the product is much shorter than that of smooth leather.
On the type of outer material depends on how to properly care for a leather jacket. Industry produces special products for different types of leather surfaces. For suede leather you should buy sprays that do not allow the fibers to stick together and protect the surface from contamination by dust. Coarse-mesh sponges will help to treat sallow areas without damaging the delicate suede surface.
There is a variety of products for smooth leather surfaces, in some cases they can be replaced or supplemented with home remedies such as castor oil, glycerin.
Special care products
For proper care of leather products at home, it will be useful to buy special care products for natural coatings:
- Moisture-repellent sprays and creams. The products form a protective film on the surface of the natural material. Moisture is not absorbed or penetrates more slowly. All contaminants can be removed more easily.
- Acrylic and silicone sprays. They give the product an attractive appearance, with their help it is easy to update a worn jacket.
- Wax. When treating natural leather, it fills microcracks, and the natural material acquires its former softness.
- Sponges soaked in special oils. Care for leather jackets with their help becomes easier.
The simultaneous use of several means of care for leather products can solve many problems much faster. Leather shoes, the upholstery of an expensive sofa also need care.
Using Glycerin
A worn leather jacket can be given a new look with the help of ordinary glycerin. Rough leather will become soft again if you rub it with a cotton swab soaked in the moisturizing ingredient. For severely parched skin, the procedure should be repeated after a few minutes, when the substance has been fully absorbed. The excess can easily be removed with a paper towel.
Sometimes you need to quickly remove the contamination with improvised means. Most stains are easy to remove at home if you do it immediately, not allowing them to penetrate deep into the material:
- Ink stain is removed with a cotton pad soaked in glycerin or ethyl alcohol. You should first test the action of the substance on an inconspicuous area, such as the inside of a pocket.
- All small stains are easily removed with a soapy solution.
- Blood stains can easily be washed away with an aspirin tablet dissolved in water.
Ammonia diluted with water and soap can help bring back the color of a white jacket.
To clean a dusty jacket, it is enough to wipe it with a damp cloth. Finally, the jacket is wiped with a cloth soaked in glycerin or castor oil.
Storage rules
You can put away in the closet only prepared leather clothing. A few rules will help to do it correctly:
- It is necessary to free the pockets from the contents. Forgotten change and gloves can deform the leather in the pocket area.
- Soiled areas should be thoroughly cleaned and dried, and the entire jacket should be treated with a special agent and dried in a ventilated room at room temperature.
- Store your leather outerwear in the closet on wide shoulders.
After storage in the closet, you may find creases and wrinkles in the jacket. They can be solved with the vertical steam of a modern iron. Jacket worn on the hangers, processed by the iron at a distance of at least 30 cm. If you need to smooth out a badly creased area, you should put a terry towel under it and cover the top with a cotton cloth. The temperature of the iron should be set to “wool” mode, steam should not be used in this case, as its temperature will be much higher than allowed. Ironing should be done gently, without a lot of pressure.
To leather jacket kept its original appearance as long as possible, you need to keep it clean, time to treat special agents, and winter storage to remove only a clean product in a garment bag, choosing the right size hangers. Only then will your favorite jacket serve long and will delight with comfort and appearance.