How to remove painted graphics on leather jacket

[Johnny Deadlifts]

Hey folks, was wondering if it's possible to remove painted graphics from a jacket without ruining the leather? Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[Guppy]

It depends on the paint and also the leather.

Before you go and ruin something, it'd be a good idea to experiment. If you can find a sample of the leather in question, you can paint it and try various methods to remove the paint.

Of course, that's a big if. But it will be possible with a lot of jackets to research the leather tannage, and if the tanner still exists source some cheap scraps. Then it's just a matter of figuring out what type of paint was used, and what type of remover works with that type of paint, and observing whether it does the job without ruining the leather.

I've heard that it can be done with acetate, and in some cases the result is very good. But I've never tried it, so I have no firsthand knowledge about it. Just what I've heard.

 

[Carlos840]

It depends what you mean by "without ruining the leather".
Most products that will remove the paint will remove the topcoat from the leather, but that won't necessarily ruin it.
@ton312 used Acetone to remove the top coats of jackets and they looked great afterwards.

 

[ton312]

Acetone will absolutely work but as Carlos mentioned , you can kiss the topcoat good bye. I would only use acetone if you plan to go nuclear. You’ll likely need to do the whole jacket. Not sure it would be a good choice for spot applications and you will lose some pigment too. A good choice if you are ok stripping the whole jacket.

 

[Johnny Deadlifts]

Thank you gentlemen. Here's the jacket in question. If I did remove the topcoat I would likely lose the darker accents yes?

 

[Carlos840]

Thank you gentlemen. Here's the jacket in question. If I did remove the topcoat I would likely lose the darker accents yes?

I would not touch that with anythign unless you plan on dying it a darker colour.
It's such a light colour, you are going to end up with smudges everywhere.
I think your only hope is to acetone it fully to remove everything and then dying it dark brown or black, or a colour that will hide the smudges.

 

[Kenan]

I would honestly keep it as it is. IMO it looks cool!

 

[Edward]

I've seen a lot worse, tbh. I'd maybe darken it down a shade or two by applying some pecards, as I'd expect that to make the design less obvious. It's not hideous, though - much better than some of those awful, cod-biker designs with eagles and such.

 

[BloodEagle]

I think it looks pretty cool too - my guess is if you try to get it off it may make a mess of the jacket.

 

[Johnny Deadlifts]

Thanks guys, I like the look of this jacket but it's almost at the edge of my courage level style wise; a bold statement but I agree it's tastefully done. Thanks for all the input gentlemen. Going to need to think on this one.

 

[navetsea]

oxalic acid leather& wood bleach will do, then you can re-dye, but I have no idea how it will affect hardware and lining, so perhaps you need to do it sparingly little by little and wait it to dry in between steps not to fully drench the leather into the lining side

 

[jglf]

Fiebings has a deglazer that is an acetone mixture. You can try that first and then straight acetone. Worst case you just dye the jacket afterwards.

 

[Ingramite]

Thanks guys, I like the look of this jacket but it's almost at the edge of my courage level style wise; a bold statement but I agree it's tastefully done. Thanks for all the input gentlemen. Going to need to think on this one.

I think it's a funky piece of period folk art.
That's a good thing...to me anyway.

See here's the deal, everything on that jacket is historic. You might be able to get the paint off of it but it would still have all the fittings, cut and fit from that period.

I'd be proud to wear it as is.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Acetone / Nail polish remover will easily remove any acrylic based artwork on leather. I let it sit for less than a minute and the whole thing just wipe away. However, once everything dried, there are some cloudy spots left by the acetone. I then applied thin coat of watered down black glazing (water + acrylic). I suppose shoe polish / glazing is more or less the same.

Before,

After,

 

[Will Zach]

Acetone / Nail polish remover will easily remove any acrylic based artwork on leather. I let it sit for less than a minute and the whole thing just wipe away. However, once everything dried, there are some cloudy spots left by the acetone. I then applied thin coat of watered down black glazing (water + acrylic). I suppose shoe polish / glazing is more or less the same.

Before,
View attachment 684243
View attachment 684244

After,
View attachment 684249 View attachment 684250

Excellent work.

 

[Edward]

Acetone / Nail polish remover will easily remove any acrylic based artwork on leather. I let it sit for less than a minute and the whole thing just wipe away. However, once everything dried, there are some cloudy spots left by the acetone. I then applied thin coat of watered down black glazing (water + acrylic). I suppose shoe polish / glazing is more or less the same.

Before,
View attachment 684243
View attachment 684244

After,
View attachment 684249 View attachment 684250

I remember my dad doing this to remove the gold logo on an old leather briefcase back in the 80s. Would have been my go-to for the Lewis logo, though Impressed how effective it was on that back artwork!

 

[Johnny Deadlifts]

Acetone / Nail polish remover will easily remove any acrylic based artwork on leather. I let it sit for less than a minute and the whole thing just wipe away. However, once everything dried, there are some cloudy spots left by the acetone. I then applied thin coat of watered down black glazing (water + acrylic). I suppose shoe polish / glazing is more or less the same.

Before,
View attachment 684243
View attachment 684244

After,
View attachment 684249 View attachment 684250

That's awesome, like it was never there