Do Leather Jackets Shrink in the Cold?

[Castor Dioscuri]

On another forum I was looking through, I came upon a discussion about someone who had left his fedora in the freezer and when he took it out, it had shrunk down a size or two. The others believed that it was the cold that had shrunk the leather sweatband... (http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=25365)

My question is: If that is true, wouldn't the same apply to a leather jacket? This kind of worries me, as I planned on using my Indy jackets as cold weather gear, but this worries me a little.

[rick5150]

I have never had a leather jacket physically shrink in the cold. The thicker jackets can stiffen up a lot - especially if they are oiled. The Pecard's paste has this effect as well as the oils contained can be more viscous in cold weather. This stiffening may make the jacket feel tighter and more restrictive, but it goes away.

[JulianK]

I wear leather jackets all winter up here in Canada and I've never had one shrink on me at all. Like Rick says, the leather does stiffen up a bit when the temperature dips but that goes away.

[VP]

My Wested hasn't shrinken during the periods I've worn it out during the winter.

[binkmeisterRick]

My Wested hasn't shrinken during the periods I've worn it out during the winter.

"Hasn't shrinken?" VP, your English is getting sloppy.

[VP]

Yeah, hasn't it. I just got the best degree of the class from the exam.

[binkmeisterRick]

How did you do on the American part of the exam? American and English are two completely different languages, you know.

[Michaelson]

Don't let him rib you, VP.

Some of us who have English as our FIRST language aren't as good at it as you are with it as a second.

Regards! Michaelson

[binkmeisterRick]

True, which is why I had to jab. There was a Russian student in one of my college writing courses who was one of the best writers in the class because she learned the English language properly. She wasn't hindered by a lifetime of bad grammar like 95% of the class.

[VP]

How did you do on the American part of the exam? American and English are two completely different languages, you know.

Just as well as with the Indian and Australian parts.

[Michaelson]

So, you speak 5 languages, counting your own!?

Regards! Michaelson

[VP]

PLUS a few coding languages.

I haven't had any leather products shrink in cold, I thought they only shrank in heat.

[Doug C]

I used to work at LeatherCenter making sofas, and one of the final steps in production was when they were gone over with a heat gun to shrink up some unwanted wrinkles or sewing mistakes. None of my leather jackets have shrank due to extreme cold. I actually stuck some leather samples in the freezer for a couple of days at one point, to see how they would act. I wasn't interested in shrinking per say, but wanted to see if it effected the graining..it didn't

Doug C

[VP]

More on metal shrinking: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_expansion

[binkmeisterRick]

The pool was cold.

[Bjones]

The pool was cold.

"I was in the pool!!!! I was in the POOOOL!!!" One of my favorite episodes.

_, you have it backwards....harder denser metals don't expand(lower coefficient of expansion). Sorry for being a nerd

I remember reading about a torture tactic where someone could be strangled to death by soaking a strip of leather in water, tying it snug around a person's neck, and as it dried (prefferably in the hot sun), it would shrink, doing a slow choke on the victim. I think certain Indian tribes did this??

[Bjones]

You might need more than a marriage counselor