Taubers jacket needs help, advice appreciated!

[ton312]

Today I took hold of a vintage Taubers blanket lined horsehide (I believe) motorcycle jacket. Clearly it was not stored in a loving manner. My wife described it as a cool looking garbage bag The jacket is in decent shape but it's filthy, smelly and has developed awkward and unsightly creases (in the body) as a result of poor storage. Thankfully no mold but it smells like IT smoked, rather than being worn by a smoker. It's super heavy and my size so I simply couldn't pass. The hide seems thirsty but I'm not sure what chemical would be best to give it some juice back. I planned on cleaning it by steaming up the bathroom while its in there and wiping it down with a warm rag to see how it responds. Any ideas on chemicals to soften and juicy it up are appreciated. I think the smell will abate with sun and wind but I'd love to get some of the creases out and rejuvenate the hide.

And yes, I'm almost always wearing a Cubs shirt

 

[ton312]

Ugh advice on moving this out of classifieds and into outerwear also, probably even more, appreciated.

 

[Jägernaut]

Lol. Rookie

 

[Guppy]

You can try febreeze on the lining. Or take it to a cleaner who specializes in leather jackets. The leather may be able to be smoothed out by wet forming it back to desired shape. But beware of shrinking, and any wear or patina will likely still show the pattern of the old wrinkles. I would just wear it as is, personally, once you get the odor out.

 

[Monitor]

I don't know, man, it looks awesome to me! I'd prefer any of my jackets to look like that!

 

[ProteinNerd]

I don't know, man, it looks awesome to me! I'd prefer any of my jackets to look like that!

Yeah it looks pretty damn cool in the picture, great fit!
It might be worth giving it a light cold hand wash in the bath tub to try and help with the smell and dirt etc. Intermittently let it dry then wear it for a bit while it dries so it forms to your body shape.

Once its dry, if it still smells, turn it inside out and air and/or febreeze it for a few days.

I'd try this before sending it off to be cleaned.

 

[Monitor]

Fit is perfection. How long is the jacket and the sleeves??

 

[ton312]

Thanks guys the pic doesn't really show the odd creasing to well. I suppose they may work themselves out over time. I'll give it a few days outside for the smell before anything else.

 

[ton312]

Fit is perfection. How long is the jacket and the sleeves??

26" length excl collar and the sleeves are 27" which I think is fairly atypical for Taubers jackets.

 

[Monitor]

That sleeve length is atypical for most jackets, as far as I can tell. Thanks! It's really awesome!

 

[tmitchell59]

I don't see any issues with that jacket. Just needs to be worn. I've had heavy cig smells, just left it to air for a couple of years. Fine now!

that is a nice looking jacket. which label does it have?

 

[ton312]

I don't see any issues with that jacket. Just needs to be worn. I've had heavy cig smells, just left it to air for a couple of years. Fine now!

that is a nice looking jacket. which label does it have?

Thanks TM. It's got the older Taubers of California label. I had a Taubers leather label and it wasn't quite the same.

 

[ProteinNerd]

I've had heavy cig smells, just left it to air for a couple of years. Fine now!

Years! I really hope you mean days....surely it can't be that hard of a smell to get rid of?

 

[ton312]

Years! I really hope you mean days....surely it can't be that hard of a smell to get rid of?

Days! Man I'm all over the place!

 

[AeroFan_07]

Tony, first off, great find there! That looks like a neat old jacket that was well in need of Rescue by someone who cares, and that will describe you well.

As to the creases and poor storage, as simple as it sounds, wearing it (keeping the leather itself warmed up a bit) and occasionally placing the jacket on carpet or a fabric couch and running your hands over it seems to help. This is a trick I heard a vintage collector give a while back and I have found it works but takes a lot of time and repetition.

Now that wonderful old smell (sorry yuk, and no offense to anyone who does smoke)...I purchased an older Hein Gereke motorcycle jacket that also smelled like it had smoked, along with it's owner, since it was new. Placed it in the dryer on low heat with about 8 dryer sheets inside, a few up the sleeves, etc. This helped but just putting it in the basement with a fan blowing up into the jacket for a week straight helped a lot more. Never really was gone but minimized it.

Now to "feed" the leather if it seems dry, I have two suggestions. For general purpose or yearly treatment I use Fiebing's 4-way care, works great, readily available, does however tend to leave a little bit of a "nappy" feel to the leather however this will wear off with use. I use it more like monthly on most of my boots. For Heavy duty cleaning, which sounds like what your new acquisition needs, I would recommend Bickmore two-product treatment, using Bick 1 for cleaning and Bick 4 to condition. You may need to order this product online unless there is a saddle shop somewhere in Chicago (or maybe at Horween's place?) Think of this like rubbing compound you use on a faded hood of a car, use the rubbing compound after a thorough wash, then wax it to being the luster back.

Hope this helps, good luck on the restoration

 

[jonbuilder]

You are lucky you found a Taubers jacket with long enough sleeves. Most the Taubers I see posted have short sleeves. As for cleaning and conditioning leather I use a product called Leatherique. It is a two part system marketed at high end leather car seats. The main product is a oil called leather ejuvnator. It goes on 1st I work it in with my hand let it set for a hour or so and than wipe with a rag. If the leather is real dirty I follow with their 2nd product prestine clean. I generally only use the prestine clean on my boots which get more soiled than my jackets. I apply the prestine clean with a spray bottle and buff with a rag.