Club Obi Wan

A hypothetical distressing question:

What effect if any would daily wiping down a wested lamb with a wet washcloth have? I'd like to distress, mildly, my jacket and like that look, but don't want to hasten its imminent decline by overdoing it.

shadwell55 wrote: I'd like to distress, mildly, my jacket and like that look, but don't want to hasten its imminent decline by overdoing it.

Might end up distressing with mildew using that technique.

But guys here have stood in the shower wearing their jackets so anything goes. Maybe a couple of quick wettings and dryings to loose the shine and get some crinklyness.

What effect if any would daily wiping down a wested lamb with a wet washcloth have?

It will get the dust off and that is about it.

My guess is that it will have little effect, especially on a newer jacket that still has the protective sheen. The water will not penetrate and will just dry on the surface. You shouldn't have a mold problem unless you wet the jacket, ball it up and throw it in the basement for a month.

My experience says that the jacket needs to be really soaked and gently and slowly dried. It looks best if you wear it wet for a while as this helps mold it to your body shape and allows it to wrinkle where you bend.

The leather fibers need to be saturated to distress the jacket properly. I do not know how to explain this too well, but it sort of makes the leather fibers swell so the thin leather of the lamb looks thicker and also less uniform in thickness throughout.

What I did the opther day was kind of like a damp wipe-down and left it under a ceiling fan for air drying. No real difference as I can tell, but i only did this once.

What si like is the look of the leather where the side straps are kind of worn and semi "crinkly" if that makes any sens at all. I thought perhaps water might cause this.

I really don't want to do a full distress. But do want to hasten some wearing appearance.

I remember some dicsussion in the past about the effects of a full soak and some have written that the jacket will shrink in size and length. Do you all recall that?

If you put a jacket through the washing machine the leather will shrink and wrinkle. It will be a size or more smaller but it has a beatiful look. The color of the leather wont be affected and neither will actual distressing of the leather itself - the drape and the wrinkling will be though.

Ken

I just did the sleeves in the shower by sticking my arms in the flow. Got em good and wet then pushed them up and removed the jacket with the sleeves still up. Let it dry overnight and it looked much better. So much so that I did the whole standing in the shower thing a few days later and soaked the jacket good. Very happy with it now.

most leather work is done while the leather is wet, then allowed to dry and set.

Indiana Ken wrote:If you put a jacket through the washing machine the leather will shrink and wrinkle. It will be a size or more smaller but it has a beatiful look. The color of the leather wont be affected and neither will actual distressing of the leather itself - the drape and the wrinkling will be though.

I could use a bit of shrinkage on my wested goat... how would you recomend going about your washing machine technique?

Thanks!

I could use a bit of shrinkage on my wested goat...

how would you recomend going about your washing machine technique?

I wouldn't. But that's just me If anything, try just tumbling it in the dryer with heat first. Put it in with a bunch of towels, so it doesn't get damaged by the tumbler. If you want to dampen it a bit, just dampen the towels LIGHTLY (not soaked) and let it all dry for a while. The jacket should shrink slightly. Then put the jacket on right out of the warm dryer, while the jacket is still really soft (from the heat of the dryer) and it will mold slighty to your body. I've done this with success and no damage to the jacket. Afterwards, you might want to condition the jacket.


have a nice day.

Rusty Jones wrote:

Indiana Ken wrote:If you put a jacket through the washing machine the leather will shrink and wrinkle. It will be a size or more smaller but it has a beatiful look. The color of the leather wont be affected and neither will actual distressing of the leather itself - the drape and the wrinkling will be though.

I could use a bit of shrinkage on my wested goat... how would you recomend going about your washing machine technique?

Thanks!

I wouldn't unless your jacket is at least one size too big. Using tmble dryer wit heat has same effect.

Ken

Anyone have pics of a post-soaking or post-dryer jacket?

Texas Raider wrote:I could use a bit of shrinkage on my wested goat...

how would you recomend going about your washing machine technique?

I wouldn't. But that's just me If anything, try just tumbling it in the dryer with heat first. Put it in with a bunch of towels, so it doesn't get damaged by the tumbler. If you want to dampen it a bit, just dampen the towels LIGHTLY (not soaked) and let it all dry for a while. The jacket should shrink slightly. Then put the jacket on right out of the warm dryer, while the jacket is still really soft (from the heat of the dryer) and it will mold slighty to your body. I've done this with success and no damage to the jacket. Afterwards, you might want to condition the jacket.

melt.


have a nice day.

I agree 100% with this. I've done exactly the same thing with a Wings jacket with complete success, and a reduction of a full size. Be sure you follow the above instructions to the letter. Make sure the dryer is set on WARM....not HOT. Usually the dryer trick is only used with the heat off to soften leather like horse or goat....this method works, though it's not one we push, so proceed at your own risk. To much and you could have problems. Another thing to consider is putting your jacket inside a pillow case. Remember, if you use dryer sheets in your dryer, the crystalized powder in the drum will adhere to the jacket. Icky, and tough to clean off. (yes, I learned this the hard way once. ) So, be careful in how you do this.

This covers jackets having cotton or cotton like linings....NOT satin. Satin melts. Be careful with hides like lambskin too. They can shrink at a different rate than the lining.

Like I said, it's something that works, but proceed with caution, and at your own risk. (did I say that enough here? )
Regards! Michaelson

No problem with that. That softens jackets up nicely.

Regards! Michaelson

I did the full soak with a Wested goat about two months ago. The first thing that happens is, the leather stretches. You'll see some odd wrinkles happening around the seams, as the lining does NOT stretch. I wore it wet for about four hours. I let it air dry for two days. I finaly had to put it in the dryer on low heat for an hour one day, as it was cold out and it's my only jacket. It's important to say that my jacket was about ONE SIZE too large. The end result was a perfect fit, though the sleeves were now a bit too short for my taste. I re-wet only the sleeves and was able to stretch them back out by holding onto the cuffs and sitting with my arms bent while working on the computer one day. PERFECT fit now!
The disstressing effects look great. I got the rough, uneven texture and the crinkly, wrinkled edges. It really has the look of the Raiders jacket now. But as stated in the other post, do NOT try this unless your jacket is a bit large.

I think this may have been done in the washer, but I've heard of putting a rubber (bath?) matt in with clothing to distress it. I'd think doing the same in a cold dryer would do the same to give it a little extra beating. (jacket in the pillow case still)

Or fill the dryer with rocks for that stonewashed look.

Any distressing in the dryer (other then softening and breaking in the leather) will look too uniform and unnatural.

rick5150 wrote:Or fill the dryer with rocks for that stonewashed look.

.

Not only will the jacket become nicely distressed, but so will the wife when she catches you doing this!

Regards! Michaelson

I put the heat on in the dryer by mistake which was my problem - luckily it made for a good stunt jacket in the film.

Ken

Michaelson wrote:

rick5150 wrote:Or fill the dryer with rocks for that stonewashed look. .

Not only will the jacket become nicely distressed, but so will the wife when she catches you doing this!
Regards! Michaelson

Or you may endup being the one being artificially distressed (by the wife).

Indiana Ken wrote:I put the heat on in the dryer by mistake which was my problem - luckily it made for a good stunt jacket in the film.

Ken

I used heat on my jacket a few times and I had no problems whatsoever. The size did shrink half a size, which was perfectly fine with me.

As for the water treatment...wait until it rains and go for a walk. I've done that and the leather will wrap around you for a fitted look. It will really look like a customized jacket made for you after a walk in the rain.

I put two baseballs (clean,new) in with my jacket when I put it in the dryer. I passed on the pillow case trick, since I think it doesn't have enough room inside the pillow case to tumble evenly,and the towels were in there to protect it. It gets wadded up in one position in the case and just tumbles that way. My jacket also has a satin lining, although it might be dacron twill. Yes, the dryer was on low heat, and I kept checking it every 15 minutes or so to see how the fit was. The baseballs help soften up goat nicely without ANY damage. NOISY, though. I used my apartments laundry room, not my own .

have a nice day.

Texas Raider wrote:I put two baseballs (clean,new) in with my jacket when I put it in the dryer. I passed on the pillow case trick, since I think it doesn't have enough room inside the pillow case to tumble evenly,and the towels were in there to protect it. It gets wadded up in one position in the case and just tumbles that way. My jacket also has a satin lining, although it might be dacron twill. Yes, the dryer was on low heat, and I kept checking it every 15 minutes or so to see how the fit was. The baseballs help soften up goat nicely without ANY damage. NOISY, though. I used my apartments laundry room, not my own .

have a nice day.

Try 4 or 5 new tennis balls instead of the baseballs, less noise and they beat it up pretty good.

Not enough weight to 'em

have a nice day.