Now that warmer weather is upon us here in North America, the leather jackets, chaps, jeans, and breeches are not part of my regular wearing apparel, either on my Harley or around the ‘hood as I go about daily business. Sure, we may get a damp and cool day now-and-then, but for the most part in late Spring, Summer, and early Autumn where temperatures routinely hit the 90s (32C) and humidity almost matches, it’s time for the leather to be given a break.

How do I store leather for a long-term of non-use?

First, I examine the leather item to see if there are any tears, broken threads, missing snaps or buttons, or other damage. If necessary, I fix it or have it fixed by a pro. (Luggage repair shops are great for repairing seams where threads have come loose, and have done wonders replacing snaps, buttons, and repairing tears that have happened on rare occasions.)

When the garment is evaluated to be in good shape, I re-evaluate whether it will continue to fit me. Yeah, sometimes older leather garments shrink. It is not possible that my body got bigger where I didn’t want it to! Not me / not this gym rat!

Ahem, back to reality and truthfulness — some of my older leather jeans no longer fit in the waist. In those cases, if the gear is still in good shape, I have brought it to a leather swap meet that sells used gear to raise funds for charity. Doesn’t happen often, but has on occasion.

For gear I will continue to wear once cooler weather returns, I then clean it well. Lots of dirt, muck, and grime gets on leather just from daily wear. Time to get that gunk off. A good quality leather cleaner, such as made by Lexol or Bickmore (Bick 1), used according to label directions, will clean that grime off the leather. This step is particularly important because invisible mold spores are in that surface gunk on leather, and if leather is stored in a dark moist place, the mold will have a feeding frenzy on the collagen fibers that compose leather and destroy it. So get rid of mold spores by cleaning that gear!

Careful: not all leather cleaners are the same. Get a product made specifically for cleaning leather. Don’t use saddle soap! Your gear is not a saddle made of 14-iron (very thick) leather. Also, avoid those products that claim to be a combination of a cleaner and a conditioner. Think of it this way: one is meant to take stuff off and be removed, while the other is meant to apply stuff (moisturizing oils) and leave it on. So don’t use a product that is its own self-contradiction.

After the leather is cleaned, both inside and out (including arm pits, elbows, crotch, and other places where sweat may have gotten onto the leather or a lining of a leather item), treat it with good quality leather conditioner.

You might think that a leather cleaning product also conditions the leather. Not true, or at least, not as well. So make your leather-care-before-storage routine to include two steps: cleaning AND conditioning.

I have used a variety of leather conditioners over the years. Lately, I have been using leather conditioner provided by Langlitz. They sent me four containers of their conditioner when I bought my padded pocket Columbia jacket, and it lasts a long time. I also have used Bickmore “Bick 4” leather conditioner with great success. I like Bick 4 better than Lexol because it is easier to work with.

After conditioning, I hang the garment on its own wooden hanger. I place only one garment on a hanger — I do not, for example, place a pair of leather jeans on a hanger and then put a leather jacket over it. Each garment gets its own hanger.

I let the garment hang in the open air for a few days — closet door knob serves well — to air out completely and allow any residual conditioner to dry. I make sure this location is not in direct sun and also away from an air vent that could blow air on it. Even cooled air from an air conditioner can dry out leather, so do not expose it to blown air.

Now, it is time for storage. The most ideal storage location is a closet built for hanging clothing. When I built my house, I over-built closets. For example, our master bedroom has his-and-his-and his-gear closets. Yep, and if you include a large linen closet, we have four closets in the bedroom (thankfully, the only closeted thing in there!) Closets in spare bedrooms, an office, or hallways/entryways will also work.

Caution: do not use a closet or store leather gear in a damp basement or an attic that is not air conditioned. Both situations will damage your gear.

Also, ideally, it is best to leave space between the leather garments when hung so air can circulate around it.

But if you do not have sufficient closet space, an alternative for storage is a big plastic box or trunk. If you use these alternatives to hanging gear for storage, do this: carefully fold the garment and wrap it with brown butcher paper (aka “Kraft paper”). The paper will protect the gear and prevent its surfaces from sticking together. Conditioned leather is moist, and it really can stick together when compressed such as being stored in a box.

Using brown paper between layers of leather will prevent what happened to me once. I had stored a pair of leather jeans with a leather jacket in a box after I had cleaned and conditioned both items. Six months later when I opened the box and pulled out the gear, a pants leg had gotten stuck to the front of the jacket. When I peeled them apart, both surfaces were damaged and dulled. I never could restore the appearance of either item. What $1.00 worth of paper would have done to prevent this 🙁

When cooler weather returns, then get out your gear and go. Keep it clean and conditioned, and it will last longer than you (or at a minimum, last longer than it will fit you!)

Life is short: care for your gear!