I have a late war multi-panel jacket which I bought on ebay a few months ago. It's in decent shape, perhaps a little better than the average unrestored wartime ones you see for sale. I bought it for wearing, and have done so a handful of times. The surface is very dry, and on high wear areas such as the elbows the surface is cracked and starting to go flakey. I want to care for it myself, and continue wearing it. What to do? I bought a big tub of Pecard, which has just arrived. Is it suitable? I read somewhere that originally the sheepskin was given a topcoat of wax by the manufacturers. And I note that Pecard has no animal products in it, i.e. no lanolin. But I also read that really old sheepskin needs lanolin, so we should use Eucalan on our Irvins. I've been trying to discover the trade secrets of the professional restorers by reading their web sites. (I haven't tried phoning them yet. I'm in the UK, and there are one or two here with phone numbers listed.) I'm hoping that somebody here can give me the correct info. I did a lot of searching, but couldn't find anything definitive.
P.S. I already know not to keep it on a hangar!
P.S. I already know not to keep it on a hangar!