better way to wash/clean a vintage n-3B?

[dr.raul]

Hi,
I just bought this vintage (late 50s-early 60s) n-3B that should arrive in a couple of days. Even though it seems in good conditions I would like to clean/wash it before wearing it.
I would avoid a dry-cleaning fearing to damage the fur and the roundel, so I would prefer to wash it in water if it's safe to do it.
In another thread Dany McDonald told me he machine wash all his nylons without problems but I don't know if he has also this kind of n-3B.
My fear is mainly for the inner filling that should be wool, are there risks that it shrinks it or that it can leak out some old dirt and stain the nylon?
Summing up, has anyone experience with water washing (hand or machine) this version of n-3B? What are your advices?
Thanks
Raul

 

[Jorgeenriqueaguilera]

Dry Cleaning won't affect the fur, neither the logo. I have tried that method before and it is probably the best if you want to preserve the fur and logo intact. Washing it by hand might be a problem because it will dry with stains and for sure will fade the USAF logo. The only CONS of the Dry Cleaning method is that is very expensive (the N-3B is huge) and might not remove deep stains. But for sanitary purposes and preservation, I would say that is your best option.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[MikeyB-17]

Yeah I had the one I had dry cleaned after something crawled out of it. No ill effects at all.

 

[Micawber]

Dry cleaning would be my choice too. Among other things already mentioned washing could cause the fur skin to harden after it dries.

 

[bn1966]

Route I’ve gone down with the nice stuff..a decent dry cleaners..good results

 

[Chandler]

My N-3B is a much newer vintage than yours, with the synthetic hood fur, but I knew it needed a good going over.

I took it to one cleaner who was very tentative to make the attempt, so I took it to another that has been around much longer and they did a great job -- even brushed out the hood fur nicely.

I made sure to point out the plastic pen/pencil inserts in the sleeve pocket (if the older vintages have those) and they survived with no troubles.

 

[Flightengineer]

I washed mine in a washing machine on a gentle wash in a special bag, but mine came to me without hood fur (losted in years). Everything turned out great, but given that yours has fur, I'd listen to the advice above and go for dry cleaning

 

[bn1966]

Modern civilian nylon flight jackets without fur trim and with synthetic interlining I happily put in the washing machine on a short cold wash & they’ve been fine….