First things first, this Barbour needs a bloody good clean… So that’s what I’ve done. With cold water and a piece of rag at the ready, I began to remove years of dirt and grime. The thorough post-clean inspection of the jacket revealed the full extent of repair needed, it quickly became evident that this would be a time consuming affair. The obvious huge tears – as show in the inserted photograph below – now seems even worse and there are more little holes all over the place than I had previously realised.
Anyway, the objective still stands… return this Barbour back to a functional, waterproof/thornproof jacket, halting its deterioration and extending its life for many many many years to come (fingers crossed). Hopefully the jacket will still take wax… but we won’t know that for a while yet!
The photograph above shows the particularly bad hand warmer pocket rip, this will need major surgery! It’s the repair that I’m both dreading and looking forward to the most. I’m dreading it as I could quite easily mess up and the coat will die; it is physically handing on by a thread. However, I’m looking forward to it in equal measure, because it’s been one of those steadily growing issues, worsening over time. And each time it has gotten snagged and ripped further, I’ve promised myself that I’d fix it up.
The final straw happened last weekend while I was smashing rocks in the garden (for use as foundation hardcore); I swung the sledge hammer above my head for a killer blow and caught the floppy pocket, causing the tear to creep further up the jacket. That was it, too damaged to even use as a haggard overcoat… It was either bin it or mend it. So if the operation is successful… it lives on.
Anyway, first things first. As you can see from the following few images, after a good clean the jacket looks better already, still a long way to go though. Next job (which I’m in the midst of as I write), acquire all the necessary repair items. I’m using Ebay (for a Barbour Thornproof Repair Kit), Amazon (for Stormsure glue) and I will go to Petticoat Lane Market (to find fabric for internal repairs to major rips and tears) one day this week if i can tear myself away from my desk at work for an hour, shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.
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- Cold Water & a Rag
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- Half & Half
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- Looking Better Already
Thoughts, Therefore... 
