Leather: Shoulder wrinkles

Problem: After a heavy brown nubuck jacket had been drycleaned, excessive wrinkling became apparent on one panel and could not be pressed out.

Cause: Wrinkles of this sort are characteristic of those which occur in the hide, often on a part of the skin where a limb joins the body or where there is other movement. They can be removed by the leather tanner who will stretch and set the hide to create a uniform flat material suitable for garment leather. Unfortunately the set is released in drycleaning to give rise to the effect now seen.

Responsibility: The tanner should take the main blame here. Wrinkly material like this is not suitable for use as a main panel in a leather jacket.

Rectification: It is not possible to get rid of this wrinkling because the presser cannot apply as much tension as the original tanner and there is now a danger of damaging the nubuck surface.