Waterproof treatment for leather jacket?

My Hein Gericke V-Pilot jacket gets soaked through in the rain pretty
fast (faster than it used to). Is it okay to put some kind of
treatment on the jacket to waterproof it? Or at least make it more
water resistant? Any recommended products?

Thanks, Jenn

 

Mink oil.

 

You ought to check with the mfr. for a recommendation.

I use SnowSeal on my winter gloves, but this tends to cut down the
breathability, which could be a problem in summer. I'm using a Nikwax
product from REI on my goretex boots.

To really nuke a problem area, I'll use a mix of wax and Campmor
Silicon spray, but again only if I'm willing to give up breathability.

I also treat the front of my gear a lot more heavily that the back,
as the front is the part that really gets blasted with water. The
backside I'll try to leave very lightly treated.

 

Thanks for the suggestions! I happen to have mink oil at home, so I'll
probably try that. My main problems are on the upper arms - as you
pointed out, some parts of the jacket need only be lightly treated or
maybe not at all. Since I wear a different jacket in the summer, I'm
not as concerned about breathability with this jacket.

Jenn

 

SnowSeal is pretty good stuff. You apply it then blow some heat
at it with a heat gun or hair dryer to melt it into the leather.

REI has a bunch of more newfangled stuff that actually seems
to work pretty well too.