

Jacket deep clean help?
I’m cleaning my everyday wear leather jacket for the first time and am struggling with a couple things:
- The most worn and grimy area around the collar is pilling as I scrub it. How do I avoid this while also getting the grime off? I’m trying warmer water but even just wiping it with a cloth is taking off material. Is there something I can do to minimize this? Is there something I can do after it’s clean to smooth out the scaliness? It’s not peeling like it’s bonded, just pilling little bits.
- It’s been a while since I put hubbards on it (about a year) so some of the leather is really taking on water as I saddle soap and wipe it with a damp cloth. I’m guessing the thing to do about this is to just air dry it quite slowly. Is there anything I should do to avoid mildew while it dries?
- Should I use cream polish? Wax polish? Just leather oil or conditioner? Last time I used Hubbards for waterproofing and it left a tacky feeling. Unsure if I just over-conditioned it and that caused it? It felt okay about a month after.
I know I abuse this jacket. I would like to take care of it I’m just not quite sure how.