“Make Do and Mend”: Some useful threads with tips, tricks and experience of living with jackets in the real world.

[Lord Flashheart]

Sometimes you just can’t keep your jacket (or aircraft!) safe from a bit of “flak” or hangar* rash.

*aircraft not coat

Read around on the forum and you’ll soon find the advice to new jacket owners to enjoy and “wear the piss out of it”. If you’ve picked up a vintage jacket it is likely that this has already happened and conservation care is more likely to be appropriate . But if you’ve just bought a repro then you’ll probably want your new pride and joy to acquire that patina and character of wear that looks like you’ve a bunch of missions under your belt.

Every now and then you may feel the need to give your jacket a little TLC or do some running repairs. Sometimes this will depend on whether you’re actively wearing the jacket or have it as a part of your collection where the scratches, dings and holes are part of its very history, provenance and value. Sometimes your jacket will have been repaired in a well intentioned but inaccurate way and you’re looking to bring it back into greater authenticity.

The Forum has regularly discussed tips and tricks which can help to ensure your jacket remains serviceable and wearable. I'd personally like to thank @B-Man2 @John Lever @Micawber @Smithy and @mulceber for their own hints, recommendations and guidance across the Forum (so don't just look on this board!) but the list of those with useful experience willing to share it here is endless and I apologise for not namechecking everyone.

As with all advice here you need to make your own careful judgement about what is right for your particular jacket. Replacing the knits on a historic jacket might seem like a good idea, for example, but in doing that you would compromise part of its historic interest, undermine its provenance and almost certainly reduce it's value. Cosmetic moth holes might look a little tatty but overall they are insignificant in the history of an identifiable jacket.

Lots of care and preservation issues have been discussed on this board and it is worth searching through the experience you’ll find here. A number of the jacket makers on the board can help with more extensive and period appropriate repairs

In all probability you’ll also have learnt a few useful things caring for your jackets which could benefit members. Please do share your own tips and tricks for Care and Preservation on this board. There's also a lot on the "How To Info" board too http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/forums/how-to-info.15/


Here's a few threads to start off ... and if you've found a discussion elsewhere on the Forum helpful please do share that too.

• Leather treatment or conditioning:

This gets mentioned in a number of threads across the Forum and opinion varies so widely from “do nothing” to recommending any one of a number of potions which the author swears by. What you might do with a repro might not be wise with a historic jacket so it’s best you have a read and make up your own mind.

• Cleaning and washing:

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/washing-sheepskin-jackets.23732/

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/how-to-clean-wash-a-tanker.8708/

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/how-to-knits-washing.31527/

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/cleaning-of-a2-knits.22365/

• Knits:

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/stop-that-snag-or-beginning-hole-in-your-knits.24689/

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.or...your-knits-without-sewing-them-part-ii.32143/

• Mould / bloom on leather:

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/mold-in-closet-leather-coats-exposed-to-it.31425/

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/ahhhh-my-aero-highwayman-has-gone-hazy.30639/

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/that-white-film-on-the-jackets.18079/

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/mould-is-it-harmful.13905/

• Re-touching wear:

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/keeping-your-jackets-looking-mint-what.27490/

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/quick-fix-for-high-point-wear-on-your-jackets.25604/

• Zip/zipper:

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/question-how-can-this-be-fixed-or-slowed-down.21790/

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/zips-tape-end-repair.23802/

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/cleaning-and-lubricating-stiff-zippers.21719/

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/zipper-lubrication.10616/

• Moths and storage:

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/moth-wars.21068/

 

[Micawber]

Excellent post Phil, something we can point folks to and add content in due course.

 

[B-Man2]

Brilliant post Phil …
Nice to have all of this info in one place .

 

[Lord Flashheart]

Thank you both. Sometimes this sort of thing helps when I find something handy buried in a discussion, cheerily think I'll remember it, then promptly forget where I found it ...

 

[Smithy]

Well done that man!

Nice job Phil, really useful and a great resource for all members

 

[jonitsi]

Great info! I recently bought a lightly worn jacket that had very many smaller and not so small moth holes in the knits. I thought about replacing them but the cost and unknown end result pushed me to try and mend them with a needle and thread. It took quite some time, and some of the repairs look a bit gnarly, but I think it was worth it. Now I know I can repair quite large holes should they appear in my jacket knits. It was also kind of relaxing!

 

[Dumpster D]

Great info! I recently bought a lightly worn jacket that had very many smaller and not so small moth holes in the knits. I thought about replacing them but the cost and unknown end result pushed me to try and mend them with a needle and thread. It took quite some time, and some of the repairs look a bit gnarly, but I think it was worth it. Now I know I can repair quite large holes should they appear in my jacket knits. It was also kind of relaxing!

It's meditative, and satisfying work. Might be a good project for a movie night here depending on the season.

Generally indoor projects are done over the winter, and outdoor projects for the summer.

That said, I do look forward to the winter months for time spent invested in repair projects, whether it's darning my wool socks or sewing. The reward is in the 'doing'.