Save my gloves!

January 20, 2007 6:40 PM

How can I salvage my lambskin leather gloves that have been sitting on the side of the road for a number of days in the snow/water?

I found my leather gloves on the side of the road in the "groove" right next to to the curb in front of my fiance's house. They've probably been there for a few nights now and are soaked with some random branches and leaves on it.

I've since brought them in the house, cleaned them off with water (they're already wet) and put them in a mild soap solution.

Is there anything I can do to restore the leather? The gloves look a bit beat up but seem to be otherwise OK (no cracks yet).

posted by PWA_BadBoy to clothing, beauty, & fashion (7 comments total)

Don't dry them on a heater or by the fire, it will dessicate the leather.
posted by awesomebrad at 7:07 PM on January 20, 2007

Once they are drier, use mink oil. It smells bad, and it really seems like it's too thick to be absorbed into the leather. But leave it, and reapply liberally. It'll do wonders.
posted by typewriter at 7:11 PM on January 20, 2007

Get them out of the soap. You don't want to pull any more oil out of them; soap will be doing more damage than their time outside. Soak them in a couple of changes of plain cool water to get rid of as much soap as possible.

Then put them inside a folded up bath towel with something heavy sitting on it, to press the water out. Leave them in there for a day or so.

They should come out only just damp, and still completely flexible. That's when you want to start applying the mink oil, which will soak in and gradually displace the remaining water. Put them somewhere warm (not hot) while the oil soaks in, and keep them somewhere where air circulates (don't put them in a drawer until you're quite sure they're 100% dry, or they'll get moldy).

As long as you get the oil into them before they dry to the point of feeling brittle, the leather will come to no harm. Oil them again when you notice them starting to stiffen up. After a few rounds of this, they'll stop tending to stiffen. At that point, they're OK to store.
posted by flabdablet at 7:27 PM on January 20, 2007

Vineager soaked up by a cloth will get rid of salt stains mor effectively than water alone. The apply some type of oil as typewriter suggests.
posted by furtive at 7:27 PM on January 20, 2007

1) as suggested, get them out of the soap, and rinse them thoroughly with clear cold water.
2) This is the kind of problem Lexol was made for. Massage the gloves with Lexol (the easiest way to do that is to put them on, pour a little Lexol into the palm of one hand, then pretend you're washing your hands).
3) Blot them dry without leaning on them.
4) Put them on a towel and leave them alone for a couple of days in the house. Turn them over every few hours.
5) If they are completely dry and they feel 'alive' then put them on again and do the Lexol hand-washing trick again with about 1/4 as much Lexol, just enough to give the gloves a little bit of a sheen. If they are brittle or boardy-feeling, massage them with Lexol until they are pliable.
posted by jet_silver at 7:53 PM on January 20, 2007

When I had a similar problem saddle soap saved the day, at least as far as the leather was concerned - some of the stitching needed redoing...
posted by prentiz at 2:40 AM on January 21, 2007

Followed flabdablet's suggestions.. things look good so far.
posted by PWA_BadBoy at 11:28 PM on January 22, 2007