Identifying sheepskin garments make/model, finding a furrier in my area, and not transmitting leather disease.
Glad to have stumbled upon this forum, for the safety of my sheepskins. Strange was the availability of this username. I would like to forward my preliminary inquiries here and move onto the proper subboard with your advice. They are, help in identifying sheepskin garments make/model, finding a furrier in my area, and not transmitting leather disease.
While I am not yet a man made of $300-$2100 at a time for sheepskin garments, I have been blessed by rare opportunities to find a vest and a coat on trips to thrift stores. Contrary to Macklemore's song "Thrift Shop", they did not smell like piss, and were in pretty swell shape at their initial inspections at the store, so I swept them up without hesitation for $8.99 and $24.99. (#dontbejelly) Some day soon I hope to return karma by paying for such attire by an artisan at an ingratiating price, but until such a time, I would love to maintain my blessings properly. The feel and style of warmth is amazing, they do not have any unwanted animal or 'old' odor, and ladies love them while the men won't stop touching them. If you have sheepskins, you probably feel the same way as I do.
I would be interested to know the origin of my skins, as to manufacturer and sheep type. They were found at Central to Western Pennsylvania thrift shops. The vest has a leather sown-in tag with burned-in stamping that is somewhat worn, which only oblique lighting can help shine a light upon. It appears to say "Hankey's Genuine Sheepskin" although it is possible one or two letters, or a first initial, precede "HANKEY'S" on the first line, of two lines of text. The closest I find by google is "Hankey's Sew-a-hide" in Zelienople, PA, without any specific connection to manufacturing. But interestingly enough, and I had not come upon this until right now, there is <https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=15McAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h2MEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6014%2C3951373>, a newspaper article about Hankey's. Wearing the vest reminds me of my namesake, brokebackmountain. The coat makes me look like a young punk drug dealer; it is /that type/ of coat. An aviator jacket, I think it's called. I cannot find branding on it anywhere although there is remnants of a small sticker on the collar. There is a sown in metal chain for hanging at center neck that is stamped "TAIWAN" but that could be the metal only. I find it strange that there appears to be no other branding. Pictures forthcoming in my next reply on this thread.
I would like to clean and condition these two garments, but let me first talk about what's at stake. My vest looks a bit sore here or there with one small drying spot. It does not seem like it has ever been infested with anything that has damaged it, and it simply needs a bit of conditioning care to carry on. The coat I have recently noticed almost appears to have several bore holes and scratches, and one rip which opens to about the size of a quarter at one arm's elbow. I do not know whether I overlooked this at the time of purchase, or thought it wasn't enough to care about, or if the coat had since contracted moths or mites or some thing while in my apartment. Since my vest shows no such damage, I find it unlikely that the disease started here or came here, and most likely the damage existed at the time of purchase. I want disease free sheep, and to repair them. I do not want to transmit a disease to a furrier/leatherworker. Is the sheepskin freezable to eliminate any chance of infestation before submitting to a professional for first time cleaning/care? Is there some chemical or substance with which I may applicate or fumigate the sheepskin without harming it?
What I would ultimately like to do is to have a professional furrier/leatherman with the appropriate applicable experience and good reputation to clean and condition my vest and coat as soon as possible, and then care for my garments on my own thereafter. Is this a worthwhile avenue to travel, and what cost might I expect for a clean and conditioning of a vest, and a correcting of partial bores/scratches and sewing of the hole, plus cleaning and conditioning of the coat? Does the cost of this begin to approach the low end of purchasing new garments altogether, and would that turn me toward first time repair, cleaning, and conditioning on my own? Can anyone recommend such professionals in Western to Central Pennsylvania, or Southwestern NY, Eastern Ohio, Northern MD?
Cheers on an active forum, and for your considerations. Thank you.
