Help me my restore my leather jacket and make it last forever!

September 21, 2011 7:22 AM

Help me my restore my leather jacket and make it last forever!

I have a red leather jacket that I bought at the Gap a few years ago. Here's a picture of Steven Spielberg wearing it. I recognize how ridiculous it is, and I am particularly fond of it despite that.

I've had the jacket for a few years now, and it's been worn fairly lightly. I hung it up for a couple of seasons and just brought it out again. It doesn't look particularly worn, but it's definitely lost some of it's original suppleness and tone. I really don't know how to describe the changes except that it looks older.

I'd like to do whatever I can to condition the leather to restore it's original luster and also help preserve the leather for the future. I'd be willing to take it somewhere and have this done by a professional as well. I live in NYC if anyone can recommend a place. If this is something I can easily do myself, what products would you recommend? Otherwise, do you know of a place in NYC that could do this exceptionally well?

Thanks!

posted by AaRdVarK to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (6 answers total)

Best answer: That is an awesome jacket, however, if you got this recently (nineties or later) I would not put too much money or effort in getting a Gap jacket fixed up, even if it is real leather. They're built to fall apart and even if you manage to get the luster back, the seams will start going, as well as the lining and while that's all repairable, soon enough you're throwing good money after bad. You can definitely fix it up, but you can't simultaneously wear and preserve something you got at the Gap.
posted by griphus at 7:29 AM on September 21, 2011

Best answer: I may be out of line (and I'd love to hear comments on this if it's not too much of a derail) but modern jackets from GAP are not equalivent in quality of leather to leather jackets of the past or perhaps from more high end retailers. There's a fair amount to the mechanics of curing and treating leather but the cut of the leather actually matters a fair amount as well. Nowadays that cut is often of the more inferior variety than the Full-grain or Top-grain that you might find at a high end retailer. Wiki-info here of course.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:31 AM on September 21, 2011

Best answer: I can't help you with the quality of Gap leather, but Leather Honey has done wonderful things for my leather jackets. Very happy with the results, NAYY.
posted by vers at 7:43 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I agree with the other commenters, this isn't going to become an heirloom jacket and I wouldn't encourage dumping a bunch of money into restoring it when you could save up for a higher quality leather coat.

That said, you can shine this jacket up a bit for less than $20 with Pecard's fashion lotion*. It comes in a pour bottle or spray depending on how you'd prefer to apply it.

*Probably. I've used their classic leather dressing on full grain & saddle leathers and it works wonders. I have no experience with the fashion lotion. I do, however, trust the company's products. Contact them if you have any concerns about your specific type of leather.
posted by popculture at 7:46 AM on September 21, 2011

Best answer: Just realized the Pecard's spray is for high gloss leather. That is probably NOT the variety you want.
posted by popculture at 7:54 AM on September 21, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks for the responses everyone! I didn't even think about the fact that Gap makes disposable clothing still applies to this jacket. I'm gonna just pick up some Leather Honey or Pecard's and give it a shot, but definitely not invest more than $20 in it.

SLC Mom: That thread brought a smile to my face. I totally get where that guy is coming from, and I totally understand that the MeFites who responded were looking out for his best interests. Despite that, I can assure you that even if 100 MeFites posted telling me that wearing this jacket is a horrible idea, I would not be dissuaded :)
posted by AaRdVarK at 8:46 AM on September 21, 2011