Cleaning leathers

Aussie Ninja · Post by **Aussie Ninja** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 7:25 am

OK now that I have finally got some leathers I was wondering whats some good gear to keep them shmicko

ronster · Post by **ronster** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 9:39 am

Once they are clean, I use Dubbin leather resto. keeps them supple and protects the leather from water damage.

PC

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 9:42 am

mild soapy water to get the bugs and dirt off
(do NOT use washing up detergents)
and then as PC sez..some Dubbin
and you're done...

samhasa636 · Post by **samhasa636** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 9:43 am

ronster wrote:Once they are clean, I use Dubbin leather resto. keeps them supple and protects the leather from water damage.

PC

Once they are clean? But was is best to clean them with.

The only report I have heard is steer clear of the Dianese cleaner. Stick with regular domestic leather cleaners and then perhaps a coat of the Dubbin Leather Resto?

Yankee · Post by **Yankee** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 9:59 am

ride in the rain on the rev limiter in sixth gear??!!

make sure there is no major standing water puddles first!
choose a long straight stretch of road... and your done in about 15 seconds!!!

JamesLaugesen · Post by **JamesLaugesen** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 10:08 am

As advised by a friend who competes in equestrian stuff, I clean with soapy water like Smitty says and then use some
"natural" bees wax-based conditioner that I snipe from her.
I recon if it's good enough for a $9000 keifer saddle; it's good enough for us

You always want the leather to be oily; so never use any sort of detergent as that's designed to lift away oil and grease

And always use a conditioner afterwards, which restore the leather's natural oils... or close to it.

Bees wax based conditioners are apparently give the best water resistance of any "natural" conditioners while still giving good breathability.

Mind you that advice is from a horse person... but I'd say the leather stuff they use cops a much harder time than our leathers.

quickchick · Post by **quickchick** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 10:22 am

Hey, great post. I was only thinking of this the other day.

So how often should you clean and condition your leathers?

Cheers,

JamesLaugesen · Post by **JamesLaugesen** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:09 am

quickchick wrote:Hey, great post. I was only thinking of this the other day.

So how often should you clean and condition your leathers?

Cheers,

Your aim is to keep the leather feeling nice and soft and leathery. So when it doesn't feel like that, whack on some conditioner.
If it's dirty when you do that, the conditioner and rag will get dirty and smudge dirt everywhere, which is why you wanna clean it first.

If you keep the leather conditioned nicely, dirt and bugs and stuff should usually just whipe/shake off easily without water.

So I usually end up giving them a quick wipe with a rag and conditioner every couple of weeks. Every couple of months I do a good clean with soapy water.

Even jump on Google and look for "leather care"... go for the horsey websites. The hardcore equestrian/dressarge people are the kings (or queens?) of obsessive leather care.

But yah, depends on your leathers, weather, how often you ride, blah blah.
If they don't feel nice and soft and leathery - condition them
If they're yucky and dirty and/or smelly - clean them too

PS - You'd pay about $15 for a container of good conditioner from a horsey place. About the size of a small chinese take-away container.
Oh and yucky hard dry unconditioned leather is much, much weaker. As is water-soaked leather... esspecially yucky hard dry unconditioned waker-soaked leather.

Tis a good idea if you're going for a ride without wet-weather gear and think it might rain, take some conditioner with you. If it looks like serious rain ahead, put a good dose of conditioner into your leathers.

If only I did that coming home from Wakefield ay Sam(hasa636)? Haha.
I still have that old yellow shirt with the pattern of my leathers stained into it.

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:49 am

JamesLaugesen wrote:As advised by a friend who competes in equestrian stuff, I clean with soapy water like Smitty says and then use some
"natural" bees wax-based conditioner that I snipe from her.
I recon if it's good enough for a $9000 keifer saddle; it's good enough for us
.

'SnoSeal' is a good beeswax conditioner/water proofer
I use it on leather ski gloves..available from Ski stores and outdoor shops

hth

Neka79 · Post by **Neka79** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 9:45 pm

quickchick wrote:Hey, great post. I was only thinking of this the other day.

So how often should you clean and condition your leathers?

Cheers,

well lets see...ive had mine 7 years now....and i cleaned em & waxed em wen i first got em...and NEVER since...lol..ive never washed em or cleaned em..they still go ok tho...

Nanna10r · Post by **Nanna10r** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 7:21 pm

We covered this topic a fair while back but i could'nt be bothered doing a search either

I'm sure the Horsie gear is great James but most of the horsie leather is much thinker & designed to do a different job to bike leathers.
Phil from Hi side recommends anything with Lanoline in it. I have used Dubbin (which is also great for waterproofing boots) but i now use a tube of "Zorbel" for my "Kadoya" One piece. They are pretty old & have had a hard life so soak up a fair bit. I do them every second time i use them which is about every 2 months.
Hth.
Cheers Brett

Barrabob · Post by **Barrabob** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 8:02 pm

Yeh i use zorbel too the leather just soaks the stuff up and its all done but i dont go overboard on the cleaning probably do them once a year and they still seem fairly water resistant i rode through a fair bit of rain last night probably 20 kms worth and they didnt seem to soak any of it up.

Dont know what they will be like in 20 years but i might be a diferent shape by then.