Attaching Patches on Leather Without Thread ?

[SteveZ]

I love those MORALE PATCHES on leather flying gear but don't like the sewing machine marks they leave if you remove them for whatever reason.

Been thinking about this for awhile and wanted to run this by the FL and let the gang give an opinion. ( especially the guys who custom make leather jackets and do some patch sewing )

The 3M company had introduced a cool product called ' COMMAND.' You've seen the TV commercials where you can attach a hanger on a wall with a very special double sided tape. When you want to remove the hook, you separate the hook from the tape with a bit of ' tug ,' you pull or stretch the tape in a downward motion and the tape separates from the wall leaving no damage !

What if...................... That same tape were available in larger sheets and you cut the material to match the backside of the patch or name tag ? Then attach the patch with no needle and thread ?

Clean the patch area with alcohol or leather friendly cleaner and stick er on ! If the patches are removed , no sewing holes ! And no VELCRO pads to attach. A downed pilot could still remove the patches in a hurry. ( maybe make the stuff in dark green or black color ? )

Sure will make selling leather flight jackets easier with no signs of patch removal. Might work on Nylon or Nomex too.

Possible product Idea ??

 

[Flightengineer]

alcohol NOT friendly for leather

 

[Peacoat]

Lexol makes a leather cleaner (as well as a conditioner), but I think it would leave a bit of a residue.

We military types have become accustomed to using Velcro. In Army Aviation we attached the name/rank/wings tag with Velcro. We had no patches on the front of the flight jacket, but had them high on the sleeves at the shoulders. Current unit was on the left shoulder and the prior combat unit was on the right shoulder (combat patch). Those patches were sewn on. Now that I have said that, I looked at my avatar and see that I do have a current unit patch on the front of my flight suit or whatever I was wearing when the picture was taken. Wasn't a flight jacket, though. Everything on the garment in the avatar was sewn on. It was in a combat unit, so things probably were a bit different as to patches on the front.

I believe the Navy pilots place prior units on the front of the jacket, probably attached with Velcro.

So, this is a long way around to say that I don't see there is a need to use something other than velcro. But I am speaking strictly from a military standpoint. From a civilian standpoint it might be a good idea for those who patch civilian flight jackets. I don't patch because if I didn't earn it, I don't wear it.

 

[Deacon211]

It would be very cool if it worked. But I use command strips for my Christmas lights and they don't last, drying out and leaving a nasty residue on the window or just coming off completely (whichever one you didn't want to happen).

It would definitely save a jacket from some holes though!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Siggmund]

Not sure about this. It seems like there might be a lot of ways to go wrong. An adhesive strong enough to overcome the oils in a given leather might also result in damage if you tried to remove it. Oils are essential to the "health" of leather but are generally antagonistic to adhesives. In the case of sheepskin, sometimes there are finishes that might peel if you tried to pull away a patch. A light adhesive such as used for mounting photos might work for awhile, but removing the adhesive residue might damage the finish if you used too strong a solvent.

 

[Plumbline]

On racing suits and some prop jackets when I did work with DCA ( who service a number ofd the F1 teams etc. ) they used a very strong ( and quite application specific) 3M double sided adhesive and it lasted about 3 washes / 6-8 weeks and leaves no residue on Nomex/polyester or coated / finished leather. Haven't used it on full grain or unfinished/coated leather.

It's not a permanent thing but it certainly didn't seem to damage the suits or leathers. Was great for single race sponsors and also for kit which we didn't want permanent logos attached.

Will see if I can find the spec of the double sided material - it was based on a woven substrate and was white in color with clear adhesive coating came in 1m wide sheets and was cut to suit.