Lacquered irvin B3 jacket care with oil for example

[Georg07]

Hello dear friends of old jackets,

my name is Georg and I come from Germany. Sorry for my English.
I am 50 years old and bought an old Irvin jacket. It is not from WW2 but still several decades old. My problem is the following.
The jacket is hard and would have to be cared for with grease or oil.
Be that as it may, the jacket is coated on the outside with a dark brown, rubbery paint.
The coating is perfectly fine, so that no oil comes close to the leather for nourishment. How can i still reach the leather?
I thought about the following.
What do you think of this approach?
Could I use a thin syringe to use the e.g. filled with a lanolin oil is there some oil between the fur on the leather?
This work would be very tedious because I would have to treat the entire jacket from the inside at a distance of one centimeter with the syringe, but maybe there is a much better way to care for the leather. I thank you in advance for tips.
Georg

 

[Silver Surfer]

Perhaps removing the “paint” on the surface may work. Try a sample area using acetone on a disposable rag. See if the coating comes off on to the rag. If it work, do he whole jacket in a ventilated room. When done you might consider leaving it as is, or redying the jacket to your specs. Good luck, and welcome to the abusement park.

 

[ES335]

Welcome, Georg! And good luck with your Irvin!

(And your English is excellent, this is forum is very international so no worries about language )

Herzlich willkommen!

 

[John Lever]

Thick acrylic painted sheepskin is almost impossible to soften with leather dressing. I should know as I tried for 25 years to soften my bullet proof Aviation Leather Craft jacket.
In the end I removed the outer coating with floor polish stripper and petrol then had it dry cleaned. It worked but not worth the effort.

 

[JonnyCrow]

Thick acrylic painted sheepskin is almost impossible to soften with leather dressing. I should know as I tried for 25 years to soften my bullet proof Aviation Leather Craft jacket.
In the end I removed the outer coating with floor polish stripper and petrol then had it dry cleaned. It worked but not worth the effort.

I couldn't imagine having to restore or soften something like that John,

 

[Pilot]

Hi Georg
PM sent.
Gerade eine private Nachricht gesendet.
Cheers Gruesse

 

[Micawber]

Removal of outer surface finish to gain access to the hide beneath is of course one option. However when I was in the restoration business one often had to think laterally to avoid damage or loss of character. While this may not be the case with this particular jacket you may want to give some thought to reaching the hide from the fleece side. To that end you could try rubbing a little lanolin into the fleece and skin below. Lanolin is an oil found in lamb and sheepskin so you won't do it harm - if used sparingly.
Try it on a small test area that won't be noticeable first then leave in a warm environment for a day or two. After that massage the hide gently with your hands and see if it responds / softens. It may, it may not. Remember to wipe the fleece thoroughly after to remove surplus lanolin, you may need to be prepared for some marking of light cotton undergarments after. The choice is yours!
I accept no responsibility whatsoever for unwanted results - as with so much restoration work it is often experience and trial and error that matters.

 

[Georg07]

Hello dear forum friends, thank you for the numerous answers and assistance. I am overwhelmed. I don't want to wipe off the acrylic layer because it's completely preserved and somehow it looks really good. I like the possibility of getting to the leather through the fur better. Just have to see where I can get lanolin oil. So far I've only found lanolin in fat form or washing lotion with lanolin. But I'm sure I'll find something there. Pictures were requested which I added. I just noticed that there is a hole in the collar. It looks like fur has been torn out. See image. How can something like that happen? Could it have been animals (moths)? This is the only spot and otherwise the fur is also firmly attached. I'm afraid it will happen elsewhere too. Many thanks for your help Georg

 

[Micawber]

You could just try wearing it gently in the warm indoors and see how it goes. If the fleece around that bald spot is firmly attached I wouldn't worry to much about it - but the bald skin there is a good place to try a little lanolin [unscented] to see if it softens the skin - not your skin

 

[Silver Surfer]

Moths, or……..mice. Both love fur.