This winter has been quite warm, so I haven’t taken out my leather jacket for nearly a year. I just discovered that it has a light dusting of mildew on it.
What should I do to clean it properly and protect it from future attacks of mildew?
Also, in the US I have a can of treatment spray for it…but that’s in the US. Where can I get something similar for my leather jacket?
Thanks.
You could start with sending it to the dry cleaner’s. When it comes back, saturate it with Lysol spray, then put it in front of a fan until bone dry. Next summer when you put it away, buy a clear plastic bag for quilts at your dry goods store, and seal the jacket in that together with a fist-sized dessicant pack, sealing the bag very well with packing tape (no gaps or holes). That’ll probably hold you until the next winter. That’s what I do, anyway. I used to have the same problem until I started sealing the jackets in bags with dessicant. Haven’t had the problem since, and I live in VERY humid Donghu, with no AC (not in the storage room anyway).
No, no, no. Do not send it to the dry cleaners. They ruined my leatheer jacket by redying the fucker. 8 years later it still shines like a christmas light.
Just use soap and water and let it dry. Rub with oil later and it should be fine.
Hmm. I had one they redyed, and it was quite nice afterwards. But they didn’t ask me first. They just redyed it without my permission. :loco:
There’s a place a few doors down from my house called Leather Spa, and they apparently clean and treat leather products. Should I risk it (also, no idea how much it would cost)? Soap & water’s fine, right?
Lysol on leather? 
In the future I’ll keep the jacket in the bedroom where the dehumidifier runs in the winter and the air conditioner runs in the summer.
After Lysol spray dries, it doesn’t smell, not on leather anyway. IMO. I treat new leathers with Lysol (drench 'em), dry 'em thoroughly, then use leather conditioning oils such as mink oil which repel moisture and help prevent molding. I respray them with lysol annually, and re-oil every couple years. Also when they get wet I put them in front of a fan until very dry, and if it’s raining daily, I use the exhaust of a dehumidifier instead.
I use Lysol because my leathers get wet a lot (on the bike).
If you remind me I’ll bring one of my leather jackets to the next HH and you can have a look at it and smell it and see what you think of the result of this treatment. 
I concur on keeping it out of the hands of the dry cleaners, esp. if you like it looking alittle “broken in”, a concept most locals can’t wrap their melons around.
Most day marklets have the dude selling the household doodads, yeah?
See if he’s got any of those instant shoeshine deals, there’s a wee bottle of oil and a sponge applicator.
Use the oil sparingly to clean off the mould.
For the rest of the season, try not to keep it cooped up in the closet too much.
When you want to pack it away, use DB’s vacuum seal bag/dessicant combo.
Just make sure it’s sitting the way you like it when you vacuum, because it will hold that shape a bit in the spring.
COme on! How much do leather jackets cost? NT$50,000 or so, right? Just throw it away and get a new one.
sandman, there is no way in hell you’ll find a leather jacket of decent biker quality here. to make my jacket, several australian steers were daily beaten with thorny branches and irradiated with harsh UV as well as having to put up with horny encounters with other wild bulls for a few years (OK, they just lived on an outback cattle property. same thing really: the leather is TOUGH AS BOOTS). rather the skin of a dad cow than my own skin on the road.
and an old jacket is like an old family member. eventually they will die but you really want to keep them around for as long as possible. even when their teeth fall out and they can’t go to the toilet themselves anymore.
it’s also probably way cooler to go to the bar wearing your jacket than wearing your mum, or her uncle.
your leather can go to the toilet? 
my jacket shits all over most other bike jackets. is that the same thing?
and i took it back to OZ and left it with my bike in storage as it was getting attacked by mildew here…
nearly always 100pct humidity really makes things tuff regarding mildew. Heck even Taiwanese persian cats must be washed once a month to keep mildew off their coats !!
i always kept my leather jacket in my car (not workable if you dont have a car of course) if im not wearing it. I made the mistake of leaving it at home once and it got soo mildewed soo fast.
The only way to get rid of the mildew was to wash it. There is some color loss after washing (unavoidable if your leather was drum dyed , aniline leather ). I just washed with plain soap and warm water . Dont rinse repeatedly as you are just rinsing color away. Just a bit of soap and rinse twice is enough. And Air dry. Never machine dry.
Then thereafter keep it in the car. Has never mildewed when kept in the car, even in the trunk.
worked for me, but then i only had one leather jacket as they are hard to keep.
even here in calif they will mildew if left in the closet long enough. I Only have one leather jacket here too, for that reason.