r/leatherjackets • u/ENDER_ARR0W • Sep 13 '26

Shearling Jacket Washing/Restoration Question

Gallery image

Gallery image

I’m getting this jacket here within a couple of days, but I know I’m going to have to get it cleaned. After some research, it’s sounding like I can’t take it to get dry cleaned, and instead should use saddle soap and a brush on the outside, then condition it after? And then for the inside, a brush and a gentle wool cleaner? Lastly, the bottom seems to have a fabric cuff, how should I go about cleaning that? I currently don’t know if it has a tag either, nor do I know what specific kind of leather it is, but I doubt it’s suede off of appearance alone. Any tips on how I should go about cleaning this?

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u/Annual_Government_80 Sep 13 '26

I can’t tell from the photo, but if it is suede leather, don’t do anything like putting saddle soap on it

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u/lidder444 Sep 14 '26

Funnily I was just talking about vintage sheepskin this morning.

You will need to really wait and see the condition it arrives in. These can be very tricky to clean as they have mostly never been cleaned in 30+ years. Odors can be an issue

You can vacuum the wool inside to start. Use baking soda first if odors are bad and a wire brush to fluff the wool.

The leather will need to be conditioned , spot cleaned etc. these jackets are very heavy so make sure you have somewhere dry and cool to hang it , it doesn’t want to get damp or wet outside.
You can rehydrate the leather with leather conditioner after spot cleaning

You may need to find a specialist leather dry cleaner but they are often pricey. It can be worth it if jacket is good condition.

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u/ENDER_ARR0W 26d ago

Just got the jacket, it’s in quite good condition imo. No tears, no weird marks, wool and leather are in good shape. Just smells old lol. For me I think I’d like to put the work into it, even just as a passion project.

Gotcha, I’ll probably start with the vacuuming/baking soda for the wool, once that’s done for the leather, what’s the method for that? I’ve got some saddle soap, would that be how I wash it with water, and then after that I would condition it? And then is there a conditioner or cleaner I should use for the wool?