Club Obi Wan

Having scuffed and sanded my Wested previously, I gave it a good soaking in a sink of hot water the other day then dried it over the radiator. I'm very pleased with the effect. It's lost most of its gloss and has a good wrinkled look.

oh... and a free picture of half my new Aldens included!

Looks great, djd. You should take a few more pics, maybe in the sunlight. Nicely done.
'Blues

And some mysterious "orbs" into the bargain!

Did you scallop your pockets or did they come that way?

Kt Templar wrote:And some mysterious "orbs" into the bargain!

Did you scallop your pockets or did they come that way?

I gave the pockets a bit of help using the pulling whilst wet method (before this overall soaking) but to be honest they weren't badly shaped in the first place... As to the orbs, I think they may be the ghosts of my old credit cards come to haunt me!

IndyBlues wrote:Looks great, djd. You should take a few more pics, maybe in the sunlight. Nicely done.
'Blues

Thanks Hope to take some better shots once my Magnoli HJ arrives- I should have the complete costume by then (so I can look REALLY silly!)

You need to give those Aldens a work out to match that beautifully distressed jacket! Take them hiking just once and you'll be amazed how "Indy" they appear!

Regards, Dr. J

WOW! That really DOES look great! Good job!

TR

Which leather is your jacket?

Ken

It's the authentic Lamb. Now I need to find a way of darkening the whole jacket a bit. May try mink oil....

djd wrote:oh... and a free picture of half my new Aldens included!

That's most generous sir!

Seriously though, the effect is very nice. Didn't the leather shrink a bit?

montana

It has shrunk a little- which is good because it was a tad big before. Looks more of a 80's fit now I'm really very pleased. As I say, just need to make it a little darker now.

Djd, your jacket looks great!

Love the aldens.

djd wrote:Having scuffed and sanded my Wested previously, I gave it a good soaking in a sink of hot water the other day then dried it over the radiator. I'm very pleased with the effect. It's lost most of its gloss and has a good wrinkled look.

I'm impressed! I really wish I had the guts to do that, but I get scared just leaning against the wall with my Westeds

Try a LIGHT glaze with the Pecards Brown Leather Dressing before anything else! Michaelson? Do you concur?

Regards, Dr. J

As you can see, in certain lights the jack does have quite a SA dark colour... When I look at the jackets in Raiders and Temple I'm convinced they've been soaked in water as part of the aging process...

How big/significant was the shrinkage would you say? Any negative effects (eg - the lining?)

Ken

Hard to say on the strinkage.... The sleeves seem shorter but it may be due to them becoming more wrinkled than actual shrinkage. Maybe half an inch shorter? No negative effects. The lining is fine ( a bit of die comes out in the water but it still looks the same). The texture of the leather goes a bit harder, but you'd expect that even with a good rain shower I'd guess.

I held my US Wings goat in the hot shower and had great results.... Wrinkling, slight shrinkage, just an overall aged look! It really tamed the "puffiness".

highly recomended procedure!

C3

I am tempted to try with my flightsuits goat and see what happens - its a perfect fit at the moment though so I am just slightly concerned if it would cease to be after doing this to it

Ken

I think you'd be ok. If I loook at the zip on my jacket, it hasn't bunched up at all- which suggests to me that the jacket isn't any shorter at the front. I'll see how my Todd looks before I decide whether to give it the same treatment!

Looking good! I think Rick used to advocate a good soaking for a lambskin Wested - he said it gave a bit more weight to the leather, or something like that.

Very nice results! I've been tempted to try it from time to time with my Wested, but have never been able to work up the nerve.

Just go for it! Fill the sink with hot water, dump the jacket it it then just hang it up to dry. Job done. I've heard that some people tumble dry them but that would increase the risk of it shrinking radically I'd think.

I couldn't do it with my main one, had to wait till I had a second hand one before I could make myself do it. It does add a certain dimension to the leather look and feel, but makes it less supple. Even after retreating with letap.

I think Rick used to advocate a good soaking for a lambskin Wested - he said it gave a bit more weight to the leather, or something like that.

Anyone here have any more info on this?

Best thing to do would be to drop a PM to Rick5150 and ask him.

Regards! Michaelson

I actually put my Wested in the washing machine, which I'm not so sure I would recommend. It got white spots on it, which wouldn't come out no matter how much dressing I applied. However, the other day it got really soaked, and the spots are almost gone now.

I have a hard time explaining what soaking the jacket does to the look. It does not physically weigh it down (once it dries, that is), but it swells the leather a bit and gives the wrinkles and creases more character and depth. The leather appears like it is thicker and heavier as a result of it. You may sacrifice a small bit of softness at first, but that comes back soon enough.

It is usually the drying of the leather that causes problems though. After reading that first post about drying the jacket on the radiator, I was waiting to see a Barbie sized jacket.

It has been my experience that the lighter the leather the more pronounced the shrinkage. I have no idea if this is true or not, but my heavy cowhides and horsehides barely shrink where the lambs and calfskins shrink a LOT more...

I'd say goat shrinks medium then.

I got caught in the rain for a few hours when my jacket was new and it made wonders for the fit!

Regards,
Swindiana

Interesting. What I'm also tryng to avoid is that bell shape that the lambskins seem to take on after being worn a while. My theory (right or wrong) is that this happens because of the thin soft leather.

I'm thinking that if a soaking thickens up the leather a bit it might not do that as much. Right now I always keep mine zipped since I'm not wearing it much in the summer. Don't know it that's gonna help but it seems like a good idea at the time.

JulianK wrote:Interesting. What I'm also tryng to avoid is that bell shape that the lambskins seem to take on after being worn a while. My theory (right or wrong) is that this happens because of the thin soft leather.

My guess is that the bell shape those jackets seem to acquire is due to the leather facings... because they are so reinforced, they make the jacket openings go straight, and depending on how tight your jacket is, will cause an upside down V shape, aka bell-shaped jacket!

That's my take on it anyway, since my first jacket had leather facings, and is annoyingly bell shaped (I'm hoping a future jacket with a VERY tapered waist will solve this), while my second jacket without any facings falls perfectly fine (although due to it being a few inches longer, it is hard to really tell)

JulianK wrote:I'm thinking that if a soaking thickens up the leather a bit it might not do that as much. Right now I always keep mine zipped since I'm not wearing it much in the summer. Don't know it that's gonna help but it seems like a good idea at the time.

Although the leather may appear thicker visually and probably definitely via microscope, the density is no different. For instance, if you had two 6” square samples of leather – one “dry” and one that has been soaked and allowed to dry – the soaked one would appear thicker but would weight the same as the dry one. No mass has been added and the weight would only change if the leather retained some of the water.

Here is something to think about… A popped popcorn kernel should weigh about the same as the unpopped kernel, even though there is a substantial size difference. Probably less, as the popped kernel gives up some moisture. The same may be true of your jacket. If the soaking removes any of the natural oils from the leather, you may wind up with a slightly lighter jacket, that just looks heavier.

I would not want to be partly responsible for someone ruining a jacket because they want it to be thicker. I cannot say for certain that any of the leathers properties are changed either. This is just my typical long-winded way of saying “be really careful!”

Personally, I wet every jacket I have owned eventually. Sometimes on purpose, and often not. The way I see it – wetting your jacket is way better than wetting your pants.

Sort of reminds me of the old grade school science question 'which weighs more....a ton of feathers, or a ton of pig iron?"

I never DID get that one right.

Regards! Michaelson

Hahaha. That reminds me of this. I recently came across this bit of trivia on the City of Haverhill, Massachusetts website for recycling:

About 2,000 lbs equals 1 ton of paper.

This is sort of confusing...

I wonder how many pounds of feathers that would be?

Regards! Michaelson

I think it depends on how thick they are.

I see you got that question wrong in school too!

Regard! Michaelson

rick5150 wrote:I have a hard time explaining what soaking the jacket does to the look. It does not physically weigh it down (once it dries, that is), but it swells the leather a bit and gives the wrinkles and creases more character and depth. The leather appears like it is thicker and heavier as a result of it. You may sacrifice a small bit of softness at first, but that comes back soon enough.

It is usually the drying of the leather that causes problems though. After reading that first post about drying the jacket on the radiator, I was waiting to see a Barbie sized jacket.

It has been my experience that the lighter the leather the more pronounced the shrinkage. I have no idea if this is true or not, but my heavy cowhides and horsehides barely shrink where the lambs and calfskins shrink a LOT more...

My question is this: if I am going to soak my Wested, should I apply the Letap leather cleaner before/after/not-at-all?

My jacket wound up being a bit bigger than the 52 I tried on at Peter's so I am not so worried about shrinkage, though air drying seems like a good plan.

If you're going to try this, apply Letaps afterwards. It's water soluable, and all you're going to do is wash it out with the soaking, so the pre-application would be pretty pointless.

Regards! Michaelson

Michaelson wrote:If you're going to try this, apply Letaps afterwards. It's water soluable, and all you're going to do is wash it out with the soaking, so the pre-application would be pretty pointless.

Regards! Michaelson

Thanks Michaelson! I was sort of thinking that (or even worried it might repel the water).

It is still worth applying even afterwards though? (my goal is durable and roughly SA; not "pretty")

Absolutely.

Anytime leather is hit by water, then allowed to dry out, the trying action tends to pull the moisture OUT of the hide by wicking action. Any good leather treatment product helps replace and condition dried out leather.

The last thing you want to happen is to have the leather crack or split on you due to dryness.

Regards! Michaelson

In reference to DjD's earlier question; What is the best way to darken the leather backup a bit?