I was asked how I clean my leather gear, the following has served me well but I was also interested to see what other do / use?
For road used leathers getting rid of the accumulated oil and bugs in concern number two. Not shrinking our gear is concern number 1.
Not washing dyes etc off is concern number 3, some people may not care about this preferring a bit of a patina.
First I get rid of the bugs.
I only do the side facing into traffic for this part.
Lay the gear in question flat, and put a warm wet towel on top. Not hot. About body temp.
Go and do something else for 30 minutes.
With a damp cloth wipe away any bugs, rinsing the cloth regularly (no point depositing the same bugs elsewhere).
Then wipe along the seams.
Repeat until you can wring out the cloth without getting a grey colour in your water.
The rest I do all over.
Some people will advise giving a good scrub with saddle soap.
I don't scrub as it ages the leather and can lead to cracking if you take too much out, whatever leather appropriate soap you can lay your hands on (including saddle soap) lather it up with warm water onto a towel or cloth (you can use the one you soaked under if you are not doing any other pieces) and leave it laying on your garment for 10 - 15 minutes or as long as it takes to go from body temp to room temp. If you can, hanging it up with a cloth draped over both sides saves a bit of time.
Then give it a wipe and repeat until you have water that is mostly clear when you ring it out, pay particular attention to seams. The soap residue will make it slightly brown but you don't want it to look like frothy tea when you wring it out.
The back is rarely dirty but you want the colours to look the same and I am told that after a few washes you will see a difference in the sunlight.
Lastly I give it a quick wipe with warm dish water. This speeds up the drying time and can be skipped if you are not in a hurry.
IF you want to wash your linings, sponge diluted sport wash through liberally then sponge through clean water until it comes clear.
Lay flat or hang on a heavy coat hanger in the shade till dry. You can hang in a heated room or over a dehumidifier if in a hurry but don't put it directly in front of a heat source or your dye may change colour and your leather may dry out.
From here it gets a bit personal but I like beeswax based product others insist mink oil, I don't think that matters as much as the leather must be warmer than it will ever get while you are wearing it when you put it on if you don't want it on your clothes first sunny day.
In the past I have used a hair dryer on high and heat gun on low, but keep it moving so as to not take anything out of the leather you want the leather warm enough to be uncomfortable but not scalding. Others swear by the leave it sitting in the sun for 10-20 minutes on a hot day.
IF the weather is cold you may want to warm your product first.
Daub it along the seems until there is some sitting on top as the leather cools it should suck it up.
Once you have hit all the seams evenly across the remainder of the leather... you will need a lot less and are mostly looking to colour match to your seams.
I am sure others will have other processes, some will disagree with my system, but this is my system for how I can clean my jacket, pants, gloves and boots in about 2 hours on a Friday night and have them dry enough to condition in about 2 hours on a Saturday with a single pot of snow seal or similar beeswax based product.
For bonus points with your leathers but debit points with your mrs leave them in the hot water cupboard for a day or two. This will allow any excess product to soak into the leather but may make other laundry smell a bit.
If you can't do that give them another blast with the heat source the day after.
I have found the liquid beeswax and liquid saddle soap are easier to use but less effective and with way more residue for way less product.
Links to the products I have used to do the above.
http://www.saddlerywarehouse.co.nz/a...ctdetails.html (This is a similar product not the one I used to use, probably what I will buy when I need some more though)
http://www.cycletreads.co.nz/product...rproofing.aspx
http://www.cycletreads.co.nz/product...port_wash.aspx
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Originally Posted by Big Dog
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