I have a new A-2 leather jacket. It is either lamb or goatskin nappa. Label just says “leather.”
This discussion thread on weathering a leather jacket here How to weather a leather jacket ?? | RPF Costume and Prop Maker Community features some posts by users who put their jackets through a wash cycle! One user states that his jacket shrunk about a half size. I assume that means that if it was a large, after washing it was between a medium and large in size.
If that’s true, that would be perfect because my jacket is a little large.
So what might happen if I ran it through a delicate cycle? Cold or hot? What bad may happen other than shrinking? Or what might happen if I just give it a dunking in water and hang it up to dry?
There are a whole bunch of websites that talk about washing leather. Unfortunately, many of them seem to be written by fetishists, so I’ll let you do your own search.
Surprisingly, it seems you can wash leather (hand washing preferable to even the gentlest machine cycle), as long as you use a very gentle soap, lay flat to dry carefully and apply a conditioner after it dries.
However, it also looks like zippers, buckles, snaps, etc. are not made from rustproof metal, so you could end up with a clean but rusty jacket.
You take it to a cleaner who specializes in leather.
You’ve got two entirely different fabrics: the leather outer, and the lining. You’ve got whatever fasteners to close the jacket. You’ve got tailoring to fit the sleeves in. Maybe even pockets.
It needs to be cleaned by someone who knows what he or she is doing, and it has to be blocked while it dries.
If you wish to remind me that the cow or the sheep stood in the rain with no bad effects, I’ll point out that the sleeves and the front and the back might come from three different animals.
A leather jacket or coat is typically quite an investment in money. Don’t throw it away.
~VOW
A couple years ago, in a terrible happy hour tragedy, some woman vomited copious quantities of red wine all over my leather jacket. While I was wearing it. Ugh.
The only way to clean leather without risking ruining it is to take it to a dry cleaners. They will send it out to a leather cleaning specialist. It took three weeks and cost me about $45 but I got back a perfectly pristine non-vomit-smelling leather jacket.
And no, I don’t party with that chick anymore.
Incidentally, a little hydrogen peroxide added to the washer will get red wine stains out of your cotton sweaters.
I have a Dockers leather jacket that I bought about 15 years ago. I’ve had it cleaned once. People swoon over this thing. Apparently, what I see as being worn and ratty looking is high fashion these days.