Treat your leather!

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fateddy
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Today's PSA: Take care of your leather stuff.

I just got a nice leather Corbin seat and decided to treat it. While I was in the process, I pulled out my jacket and gave it a good going over. Here's a little tutorial on how I do it.

Supplies:
-A couple soft rags. I tore up an old t-shirt and got an old washcloth.

-Leather treatment. You want something that's suitable for garments for jackets, and this stuff will also work well on seats and bags and stuff. I wouldn't do it the other way around, though; furniture-grade leather polish probably shouldn't go on your nice jacket. Just a hunch. Also avoid stuff that is specifically for boots. That stuff is usually super waxy and you don't want to ruin all your pants. I use Bickmore Leather Conditioner:
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-A microfiber cloth.

First, the seat! Before and after pictures didn't show a noticeable difference, so I'll leave them out for the most part.
1. Clean it well. Seats get a lot of grime and schmutz on them, so use a little soap. I took the washcloth rag, soaked it well, and then rubbed a bit of very mild oatmeal soap on it. Just a little. Give the whole seat a good thorough wiping. If it's dirty or greasy at all, the leather conditioner won't work the way it should.
2. Air dry for a few minutes.
3. Get your clean, dry t-shirt rag and squeeze a good dose of leather conditioner on it and start rubbing it all over the seat. Get a bunch on there. Rub it in. Rub it good. If you've gotten it spread correctly, the seat will look kind of hazy and be moist to the touch.
4. Get the microfiber cloth and start buffing firmly. You'll be doing two things: removing the excess and heating up the top layer of the leather and allowing the conditioner to sink in a few molecules deep. Buff until the seat is no longer slippery. It will be nice and shiny and feel smooth and dry.
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Hooray!

Ok, now your jacket. This process is largely the same as the seat.
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1. Clean it. Unless you've been riding in just terrible conditions, there's probably not a whole lot of grime and grease, and you can probably forgo soap in most places. What you will have is bugs. Bug guts are gross and acidic and they'll eat into your leather. They may require some extra soaking depending on how long they've been there. Get all the bug guts off with a good wet rag.
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The one place you may need soap is around the collar, from your filthy neck.
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2. Air dry.
3. Same as with the seat, apply your leather conditioner liberally with a soft rag. Really get into scuffs and creases. This should be about the longest part of the whole process, because there's all kinds of little nooks and crannies that get a lot of friction. Work it hard.
4. After you've got it all in there, get your microfiber and start buffing. Buff until your leather feels soft, smooth, and is nice and shiny. Get all the excess off so it doesn't leave stains on your lady's clean furniture or collect road grit.
5. Hooray, your jacket is like new!
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Good clean treated leather lasts longer, looks better, is more waterproof, and is just generally better. It will make it easier to get bugs off, move more comfortably on you, and make you happy.
Go soothingly on the grease mud, as there lurks the skid demon.

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