conditioning a leather jacket

I have a question about leather jackets. I've had the one in question for years and through ignorance on part I left it in the trunk of my car ( which had a leak I was unaware of ) the jacket became moldy. I took it to the dry cleaners and they were able to remove the mold but the leather is a quite a bit rough. I'm considering using some kind of leather conditioner on it to see if i can restore it. does anyone have any experiences with this sort of thing? if so what products have you used?

I'm considering mink oil, saddle soap or neem foot oil.

Just buy some leather conditioner like Lexol. It's available at most hardware stores, shoe repairs shops, and is pretty cheap. It's full of oils which will moisturize and preserve the leather. I use it on my jacket and shoes. Saddle soap and Mink oil aren't quite right for this job in my opinion.

I haven't tried Lexol but I have used Leather CPR. It's pretty good stuff. I got a tube of it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Forget the old soaps and conditioners, they leave unwanted and harmful residues...Leather CPR is the best for leather jackets.

I use pure neatsfoot oil. That's what they used at the tannery.

Does it depend on the type of leather jacket?

Cuttingboard said:

Does it depend on the type of leather jacket?

Click to expand...

Good point. Smooth leather vs. suede or split/rough-out. It's difficult to do rough yourself. Smooth is easy.
I have sent suede to a "leather cleaner", usually thru your local dry cleaners.

Its a smooth leather jacket, I'll look into leather CPR

I have an old bomber jacket that was stuck in the bottom of a footlocker for about twenty-five years. I came across it this summer and decided to see if I could restore it. I hung it up, gave it a good cleaning with Lexol, then treated it a couple of times with Lexol conditioner. It looks great.

Wash with a warm wash with water, saddle soap, and mink oil.
Or better yet, I use Kiwi shoe conditioner on some of my leathers, besides shoes.
Go with the mink oil

Nice day

I use neatsfoot oil and Lexol, alternating between treatments.

this is on a leather motorcycle jacket that sees 60+mph winds, sun, and rain repeatedly wetting and drying it out most of the year.

So far to good effect.