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Sarah asked: How do I clean an Italian leather jacket? While I was in Italy, I invested in a beautiful jacket. It was soft and had a great color. A cream was recommended, but I did not purchase it at the time. It has now lost its softness, is dirty and has permanent wrinkles. What is the best way to care for this coat? Also, is there a way to waterproof the leather? Thank you so much!
Italian leather is a high quality leather that makes beautiful jackets and other leather items. If not properly cared for, it can lose its beauty quickly. You can restore softness and exquisite quality to fine leather with the use of these cleaning and conditioning products.
You Will Need:
- Murphy’s Oil Soap
- Leather Honey
- Microfiber cloths
- Water
Steps to Remove the Stain:
- The first step is to remove surface dirt and dust. To do so, mix a couple of drops of Murphy’s Oil Soap in two cups of water. Stir to agitate, then moisten a microfiber (lint free) cloth with the solution.
- Wring the excess moisture out of the cloth so that it is damp, not wet. Excess moisture will damage leather.
- Wipe the leather down. Rinse the cloth frequently and add new solution for best results.
- Once the jacket is clean, allow it to air dry completely in a temperature controlled environment. Do not put it in a closet or other dark area. Keep it out of direct sunlight.
- After the leather is dry, it’s time to condition it. Use a clean, dry, microfiber cloth to apply Leather Honey to the leather.
- Wait for the leather to absorb the Leather Honey. Then, use a clean microfiber cloth to wipe off any excess product.
- For exceptionally dry or damaged leather, reapply the Leather Honey, then wipe clean.
Additional Tips and Advice
- If there is mildew present on the leather, kill it with a 50/50 mixture of apple cider vinegar and water. This step is best done after the initial cleaning with oil soap and must be done before the leather is treated with Leather Honey.
- To remove wrinkles, try hanging the jacket in the bathroom while a hot shower runs. This should relax the wrinkles. If not, you can try tugging them out before removing the jacket from the steamy room. As a final result, lay heavy paper over the coat and iron on a low setting through the paper.
- Leather that is well cared for and properly conditioned will be naturally weather resistant. You should never apply a product to “seal” the leather because it must be allowed to breathe. If the leather gets wet, simply remove excess moisture with a microfiber cloth and allow it to air dry.
I don’t believe that your jacket necessarily lost its softness and became wrinkly just because you didn’t buy the cream that the purchaser wanted to sell you. The thing is that you need to look after anything that is made from real leather. You need to wipe your jacket down regularly to get rid of dust and dirt and make sure that it stays clean. You should also use a good quality product to “feed” the leather and make sure that it doesn’t dry out and crack.
The other thing that you need to be careful about is keeping your leather jacket completely dry. If it gets moisture on it, it can easily get moldy. It is also absolutely vital to keep your leather jacket out of direct sunlight. This will also cause cracking pretty quickly. If your jacket does start to deteriorate, you need to take action pretty quickly. The tips here are cool and I think that they will work and help you keep your leather jacket good as new.