How To Wash A Leather Welding Jacket? [With Step By Step Guide]

Welding jacket is a must-have PPE to protect your body from welding sparks and other welding hazards. Whether you are a professional welder or it’s just your hobby – it’s something you can’t ignore to have. To get a prolonged service life and get the best out of your jacket, you have to take care of it.

Yes, I am talking about washing it at a regular interval. It’s not like your other clothes and since it is made out of leather – the washing procedure is a little delicate. You may ruin it unless you do it the right way. There is a great chance of becoming stiff and uncomfortable after you wash your leather welding jacket the wrong way.

Washing Tips For Your Leather Welding Jacket

washing leather welding jacket

If you have been following me for a while, you know how deeply I am involved in welding blogs. I keep a sharp eye on several welding forums and other welding blogs. I like to know what’s going on and what’s the latest!

From there, I have noticed a lot of welders are facing trouble cleaning their jackets. Some were arguing about what’s the point of having a spotless jacket. But then again, you really should try to reduce the number of accumulated grime layers.

I found some cool washing tips from such forums. I thought I should write an in-depth guide about it. So, here is the step by step guide to clean your jacket without ruining it!

  1. Gather Necessary Items

We only need 3 items to clean the jacket. Because it is made of leather, you should use moisturizing bath soap, leave-on leather conditioner, and cleaning rags. Make no mistake of using any detergent as the cleaning agent.

  1. Dampen The Rag

You should dampen the rag properly. You are welcome to completely soak the rag into the lukewarm water but make sure to wring it to get rid of the excess water.

  1. Less Than 4 Drops of Bath Soap

On your damped rag, place only a few drops of the moisturizing bath soap. Only 2 or 3 drops BUT definitely not more than 4 drops will do the job. Do everything you have to do so that the bath soap is worked through the rag.

If you have an old one that is mildewed, you can use rubbing alcohol on the spot to treat the mold.

  1. Scrub The Jacket

You can’t completely soak the leather jacket. You will clean the jacket spot by spot. After you are done with one spot, move the next one. This is what you should do.

This is the most important step! Start scrubbing the jacket but gently. Depending on how heavily soiled your jacket is, you may have to rinse and use more drops of soap. The moisturizing soap will soften the leather if it is already stiff and leave a great smelling flavor!

  1. Rinse-Off!

As soon as you have completed washing a spot, rinse the soap off! Never use direct water on the jacket! You can use another separate damp rag to rinse off the soap. This will make sure no soap gets dried on the jacket. Move to the next spot as soon as you completely rinse off the soap from the previous spot.

  1. Condition At Last

You want to make your jacket comfortable and supple again. Only a leave-on leather conditioner can help you achieve that. You can use a dry and clean rag to work the conditioner in. You do not want it to crack, so let it remain there for a while.

Such conditioners are great to keep leather welding jackets pliable and you will find cleaning it easy the next time.

Alternative approaches to Wash Welding Jackets

Some welding jackets cost very little (some are even available @ less than $30!), so you may not want to have it a professional dry cleaner that will cost you more than the price of the jacket. However, if it is costly, dry cleaning is a good idea.

Another experience I would like to share with you. I never tried it with a jacket but found great results cleaning my welding gloves. This is what I did. I got a saddle soap from my local shoe store and cleaned my gloves with it. Found great result!

Last Words

Maybe not like your regular jackets, but welding jackets do require a good cleaning every once in a while to get rid of the layers of grimes. However, if you do not do it the right way, you may end up ruining it. Follow my step by step methods and let me know in the comment box about the result.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.