It's that time of the year when people come and bring their leather jackets or coats to get ready for the upcoming winter seasons. Every fall, we receive a large number of people who come in and get their coats and jackets cleaned and / or repaired. This is normal wear and tear, we use our apparels and they do get dirty. However, when it comes to repairs, I think a lot of them could be avoided if people knew a little more about the selection of textiles used in making their garment.
When it comes to repairing leather jackets, the majority of repairs we deal with regards fixing the lining. It would be safe to say that's about 75% of all our leather jacket repairs deal with fixing a rip in the lining or in the pockets. The reasons why we fix so many linings is because of the poor quality of lining used in today's coat market. Many manufacturers will cut their cost by placing a poor quality lining in their products. The reason they do this is because it's much easier to make a cheap lining look nice, and then it is to make a cheap leather look and feel superior. The first impression of a leather jacket is how it feels to the touch, you can't fake that feel. However, very few people will look at the lining.
Linings should be made out of cotton or my personal preference - "Kasha". I will explain "kasha" very shortly, but try to stay away from 100% cheap polyester linings (there are a few quality polyesters but you need to know who made them). Polyesters do not breathe very well and it's easy to make it look nice. The problem is that in most cases, it a way for the manufacturer to cut cost and you are left with a lining that will very likely rip in a few months. If you live in a warm climate, then cotton is recommended. There's a lot of eco-advantages to cotton - natural, durable, and renewable etc ... but more importantly, it is very comfortable and allows your body to breath. For colder countries, the indisputable winner in coats liners is kasha; kasha is durable, comfortable, and warm. It has a satin finish on one side, but on the reverse side (the side you do not see) is flannel. If every leather jacket or leather coat had kasha linings, I suspect that our leather repair business would be cut in half.
