It’s that time of the year and the rains are abundant. Have you ever wondered if you can wear your favorite leather jacket in the rain? Most people would say “No” right away, but I’m here to help shed light on whether you can wear a leather jacket in the rain or not.
So can you wear a leather jacket in the rain? You can wear a leather jacket in the rain if the leather jacket has been waterproofed with waxes or silicone-based leather protectors. You can also wear your leather jacket if there are very minimal rains. Also, a lot of the faux leather jackets will generally do well if you get caught up in the rain wearing them.
To learn more about this topic, keep reading this article.
1. Waterproofed Leather Jacket
You can wear your leather jackets in rain if the leather jacket has been waterproofed. Leather generally is a very porous material and is not naturally water-resistant.
However, there are ways to make leather water-resistant with the use of a wax-based spray or sealant, silicone-based sprays that can be applied on both sides of the leather jacket and will help protect it.
While some of these waterproofers can protect leather up to four hours in moderate rain others like the silicone-based sprays protectants are more durable and can last up to 3 years.
The key takeaway here is that before you wear your leather jacket in the rain, make sure it has been waterproofed. Even if there is no rain, humidity and sweat can cause a lot of problems for your leather jackets.
2. Amount Of Rain
You can wear your leather jacket if there is slight or very minimal rainfall. Leather jackets due to how hardwearing they are will often come treated with water-resistant properties that enables it to withstand medium to light rain.
You can wear your leather jacket if there is slight or very minimal rainfall. However, if the rain begins to get heavier or it becomes more relentless, you should consider taking your leather jacket off and storing it in a dry place.
Generally, real leather jackets should do fine in light rain or drizzle while faux leather jackets will do exceptionally fine. However, the heavier and longer the rain, they will start to show signs of wear since water can seep into the leather fibers.
3. Weight Of The Leather Jacket
You can also wear your leather jacket if the leather used to make your leather jacket is very thick. For example, it would be difficult for the leather to get soaked if the leather jacket is made from a thick leather material like those sourced from cowhide.
However, this may not apply if your leather is thin and made of a lightwight leather material such as lambskin or calfskin.
Leather as a material will generally come in different weights and thickness. These thickness will vary depending on the type of animal skin used.
You can wear your leather jacket in the rain as long as it is made with a thick leather material like those sourced from cowhide but not if its thin and made of lightwight leather materials such as lambskin or calfskin.
4. Type Of Leather
You can also wear your leather jacket in rain depending on the type of leather used to make the leather jacket. There are different types of leathers, depending on the animal they are sourced from.
The type of leather will determine how it reacts to rain and what you can do in order to make your jacket more water-resistant before you set out during a rainfall.
Generally, there are two types of leather; namely natural and faux leather. Natural leathers as the name implies are sourced from the skins of animals, which makes them generally more durable.
These types of leather will maintain their shape and color for a long time with minimal signs of wear and tear as they age.
Faux or synthetic leather, on the other hand, is made out of man-made materials such as polyurethane and because of this, synthetic leather comes in a wide variety of colors, textures, and designs.
However, its manufacturing process makes this material to lack flexibility. Faux or synthetics leathers cannot retain its shape well when it becomes worn out due to rain unlike natural ones.
The type of leather material used to make a jacket determines how well it holds up and how you would care for it, before and after getting caught up in rain storm.
How To Protect Leather Jackets From Rain
Leather is not naturally waterproof as I have mentioned several times already in this post. It can get wet if it has too much water and will eventually become stiff if not treated which can lead to rot.
Although leather is a durable material, it can’t stand up to the rain for long periods of time. So here’s how you protect your leather jackets from rain.
1. Carry an Umbrella When Wearing Your Leather Jacket Outdoors
One way to protect your leather jacket from rain damage is to carry an umbrella when you’re going out. What I usually do is to make sure I always have an umbrella in the trunk of my car.
That way when I’m caught in the rain, instead of using my leather jacket to block out the rain showers, I quicky grab my umbrella and put it to use.
It’s not perfect but at least your leather jacket will not get soaked and you stay dry for longer periods of time before getting wet.
2. Use A Raincoat
You can also wear waterproof clothing over your leather jacket such as a raincoat or poncho which will protect both you and your items of clothing from getting wet and damaged due to prolonged exposure in the rain.
Using a raincoat is a great way of protecting your leather jacket from the rain because raincoats are made from waterproof materials which will keep the rain droplets off your leather jacket.
3. Consider Faux Leather Jackets
If you live in a place where there is often a lot of rain and the rain patterns aren’t regular, then you should consider buying a faux leather jacket.
This is because faux leather jackets are normally made of a type of fabric that is water-resistant.
This ensures that you can wear your jacket in a rainstorm without worrying about the leather being soaked by heavy rainfall or from large puddles on the ground.
4. Use Protective Sprays On Your Leather Jacket
A good way to waterproof your leather jacket is by using protective sprays on the exterior of it.
This will ensure that rain droplets stay away from your precious garment and won’t have any adverse effects or damages done to them.
Give your jackets a thorough clean before using any protective sprays on them. Dirt will stick onto the surface which can block pores where liquid could seep through.
5. Waxing
Waxing is another great way of protecting leather jackets from rain. It includes using a liquid wax that is applied to the exterior of your jacket.
This will protect the leather from being affected by rain droplets and also make the leather jacket water-resistant to any stains on it.
Waxing can be messy to begin with, so you should prepare for this beforehand as well.
An important thing to note when it comes to waxing your leather jacket is that the wax can leave a shine on the surface of your leather jacket.
Another thing worth noting is the wax could also build-up over time. To avoid this, it is best to wax your jacket about every six months or so in order to manage the wax build up.
So essentially, there are many ways of protecting your leather jackets from rain and other adverse weather conditions such as snow.
However, the most common way people including myself go about doing this would probably be by applying a coat of liquid wax onto the exterior surface of their Jackets.
6. Conditioning Your Leather
Finally, another important but easy way of protecting your leather jacket from rain is by conditioning it.
Basically, conditioning the leather jacket will help to make them more water-resistant and also protect them against any stains that you might encounter while wearing your jackets in adverse weather conditions.
To condition your leather jackets, you need to make sure the leather jacket has been cleaned before conditioning it.
After the leather has been thoroughly cleaned and dried, you can now massage the leather conditioner onto the surface of the leather jacket.
You’ll want to put the conditioner on a soft microfiber cloth and then rub it into the surface of your leather jacket until it’s fully absorbed, which should take about 5-10 minutes for an average size leather jacket.
After you have applied the conditioning treatment onto the surface of your coat, you can now allow the leather jacket to dry for a day or two.
In order to keep the water-repellant finish intact and not rub off onto other objects, don’t wash or dry clean your jacket too often.
What Do You Do When Your Leather Gets Rain Or Very Wet?
- When your leather jacket gets slightly wet, you can lightly pat the surface with a cloth. The goal is to only get rid of any excess water that might be sitting on top of the leather jacket while maintaining the shape and style of the leather jacket intact.
- You can stuff the leather jacket with a clean cotton cloth or microfiber cloth with you pat the excess water off.
- After that, put the leather jacket on a hanger that holds up the leather jacket very well and leave it in a cool dry place to air-dry.
- The same can be done if your leather jacket gets soaking wet from the rain. You would want to dab any excess water or moisture with a towel.
- Next, put the wet leather jacket on a surface that is protected by an old cloth or other absorbent material and let it air-dry at room temperature for at least 12 hours.
- This may sound like overkill but if your leather jackets get soaked during heavy rainstorms, they can take days to completely dry before you would be able to wear them again.
- Also, after the leather has dried, you want to apply a leather conditioner to the jacket to prevent it from drying out.
- There are many leather products that offer a waterproofing agent, which is helpful when you need your jackets to be more resistant to water or rain.
Conclusion
You might be thinking “no way, I’m not going to wear my leather jacket in the rain.” Well, you can! It just takes a little preparation.
First, make sure your leather is conditioned with oil or wax before it gets wet from rainfall so that it doesn’t dry out and crack as easily when dried off later.
Next, if there’s any chance of precipitation where you’re headed take an umbrella with you and wear waterproof clothing on top of your outfit (think boots!).
Finally, bring along some extra care items like saddle soap for cleaning up spills or conditioner for patting down areas that have soaked through while waiting at traffic lights.
These steps will help keep your investment looking good and feeling great even after getting rained