Club Obi Wan

Ok guys I decided to use some sandpaper on my Wested to get the new off...I roughed it up pretty good in my opinion but I'm very pleased with how it took the shine off of it...Oh and if you dont like it you don't have to wear it By the way, these pics were taken with a Sony Ericsson cellphone so the pics are only 3.2 mp but it's the best I could do.



If these pics are too big, let me know and I'll resize them.

J. A. Gordon

look'n good but some of the shine is still on the surface. if you wish to dull that out, isopropyl alcohol (say 70% concentration) will take it off after a couple of swipes.

you've got a nice look to it though. i distressed my first jacket. after that i became a firm believer that things should just age naturally....and i stay away from things that are made to look new forever.

Thanks Indiana G, yeah it still kind of a work in progress but I thought I'd put up a few pics...I'm trying to stay away from chemicals but we'll see.

I'm moving this to the Gear Care & Distressing forum, as requested by JAGordon.

You did a good job. I did that once to an old Leather Concessionaires. If you want to avoid a lot of those long, straight lines it helps to move the sanpaper around as you make the swipes. Just making a lot of short , quick swipes and turning my hand a little as I did so seemed to work best for me.

If I made marks that I didn't like, I found that moistening those marks would darken them a bit-- I didn't know about Pecard's then.

I traded that jacket to Lee Keppler for a new Wested, and I only sanded that jacket lightly, just for a hint of an aged look.

Jack

eazybox wrote:
If I made marks that I didn't like, I found that moistening those marks would darken them a bit-- I didn't know about Pecard's then.

Jack,
Yeah after I took the pics I noticed that there were some lines that I didn't care for too much, they were more noticeable in the pics with the flash than in person (this was kind of a learn as you go thing for me) and with a little wipe down most of them were pretty much gone. I've got some Pecard's and will probably give it a light treatment tomorrow. Thanks for the tip!

J. A.

Looking good brother....looking very good.

Alright, here's my opinion.

It looks just a little overdone and unnatural. Don't take that in a bad way, because it does look a lot like Noel Howard's Temple of Doom jacket as it sits. Some of the marks I see look like claw marks, or marks that were purposely made, at the very least. I know those marks well, they're made when you have no one else to stretch the leather for you while you sand it. I had the exact same thing happen to me.

I would try to smooth the distressing out by rubbing in some brown Pecard dressing in the heavily distressed areas, and around some of the lesser areas. Then buff it out to see how it looks.

Yes, if I could rub out my mistakes with plain water, you can almost certainly do it with Pecard's. I thought I had ruined my jacket in the early going but it ended up looking great and perfectly natural. The only reason I let it go was because, for some strange reason, it got a lot smaller and didn't fit me anymore.

Jack

Yeah this definitely isn't the finished product...got some Pecards to apply and theres a few more places I want to get the shine off...But so far I do love it and I'm pretty excited about how I "think" its gonna come out.

J. A.

I'll keep you guys updated.

Strider wrote:Alright, here's my opinion.

It looks just a little overdone and unnatural.

I suppose if you were dragged behind a truck, in a bar fight, shot in the arm, and chased by a huge boulder while wearing your jacket the distressing would probably look a bit "unnatural".

Cool. Looks pretty evocative of the TOD jacket in Noel Howard's possession.

You know, If you take some light brown shoe polish and rub it into the distressed areas, it will give the lighter colored sanded areas a nice deeper color that looks more lived in than sanded. It won't make things necessarily go away, but it will give the jacket less contrast. I did it, and I love the results.

What you wanna do is, on a hot day, soak the jacket in hot/warm water and if possible, **** it up and wear it for a few hours, then let it dry but don't leave it directly in the sunlight. That takes the shine off and makes the jacket look really really awesome. I've done it and I'll do it again.

Thanks Kap, I'm definitely going to do that!
As far as some calling it a TOD jacket, which is great because that's my favorite (the first I was old enough to see in the theater, I was 4), I think its kinda funny that I used a LC pic as a general guide:

Now why would you go and do that to a perfectly nice jacket? I find this distressing thing kind of.... distressing.

Cheers - Cm

jeremy3178 wrote:I suppose if you were dragged behind a truck, in a bar fight, shot in the arm, and chased by a huge boulder while wearing your jacket the distressing would probably look a bit "unnatural".

Like I said, that was just my opinion from having distressed my own Wested and taking it too far. It gave me an idea of what looks okay, and what looks a little unnatural.

(See this thread: viewtopic.php?t=15629& ... even though the pictures are gone, if you read the replies you can get a sense of the severity of the distressing I put on said jacket, and you can ask some of the other lifers around here who DID see the pics, what it looked like...TR, Michaelson, Rick5150, JAN...)

I understand that these things would cause a jacket to be distressed, but in the action pleat area? No, I don't think so. Also, most of the marks would be in unison, not scattered every which way but loose (no offense intended, JA).

Strider wrote:(no offense intended, JA).

None taken. I am very pleased with the way it has come out. Like I said before no one has to wear it but me, so I distressed the jacket to my own personal satisfaction. I can say however, that just in natural light most of the scratches are not visible, the camera flash really exposed them. The jacket was distressed to "be in the spirit of Indiana Jones" not to be a carbon copy, I used pics to be a guide but I knew the jacket was definitely going to be different, afterall, even Indy's jackets (and hats) were different in different movies/scenes.
And CM, as far as distressing a perfectly nice jacket, I just wanted a rougher looking jacket. I don't personally care for the fresh-out-of-the-package look of the Wested (my personal preference). I've got different jackets and most of them I wouldn't dream of touching with sandpaper or a wire brush but this one was purchased to be abused. ...with love.

No action pleats were distressed in the filming of this movie:

Wow, ok Strider, I take your meaning. After reading that thread that reinforces my thought that some people take this way too seriously. I see what you are saying about the marks, but I don't think he went over board with it, I think his looks better than mine and nobody bashed me for the job I did on mine.

jeremy3178 wrote:I think his looks better than mine and nobody bashed me for the job I did on mine.

That's because I was gonna wait until you came to visit and do it in person, bro.

JAGordon wrote:No action pleats were distressed in the filming of this movie:

Haha! I see your point! I also know exactly what you mean about camera flash accentuating every last nick and scratch to the point that it looks like you drew on the jacket with a white out pen. Duly noted and understood there, my friend. All in all, I do think the jacket looks good as it is. I don't think it looks horrible at all. I would put a little Pecards on it not only to smooth out the distressing, but as a general rule of thumb after you scratch your jacket up with sandpaper. Wouldn't want the scratched areas drying out too much and eventually tearing.

Strider, I just saw that pic and had to put it up...God I love those movies. Yeah and as far as my jacket, I put brown Pecards on it as you suggested and yes it definitely makes the jacket look SO much better. I need to take some new pics (without the flash ) The jacket, in my opinion, looks alot better with the Pecards on it. I know what you mean about the straight line scratches though (there are definitely some that I would remove altogether if I could but ya live and learn...and distress and learn too I guess. Overall though I'm pretty happy with my first attempt at distressing leather and I look forward to jacket weather so that I can show off my FIRST Wested! (Why I waited this long is BEYOND ME!!!)

J. A.

I think the distressing is ok but it's still a bit too shiney overall IMHO. I'd give it a good soaking in warm water. It worked well on my Wested anyhow.

djd,
I want to do that pretty bad but I have two concerns: how bad does the jacket shrink, if at all, and the weather is starting to cool down and I'm not sure it would totally dry without the possibility of mildewing. What do you think?

J. A.

Mine didn't shrink... I dried it near a radiator and it was dry within a couple of days. It did look a lot better after (to me at least!)

I've worn my Wested goat in pouring rain several times, and it really hasn't shrunk at all. In fact, it took the shine off, and gave some cool wrinkles that make the jacket look as if has really been lived in. When it gets a good soaking, I just hang it on a sturdy hanger and let it naturally air dry. I've had NO ill effects.

Now, here's a question: I soaked my Wested and put it in a drier to shrink it, but it's maybe half or a quarter of a size too small for me now. Maybe. So, if I apply Pecards, or something else, can I make it relax back to the original size to some extent?

I very much doubt it

Ozraptor wrote:Now, here's a question: I soaked my Wested and put it in a drier to shrink it, but it's maybe half or a quarter of a size too small for me now. Maybe. So, if I apply Pecards, or something else, can I make it relax back to the original size to some extent?

Maybe try _'s trick - put it through the wash again but wear it when its damp and try to stretch it out again. The leather should relax a bit when it gets soaked.

And NEVER put it in the dryer with heat! Let is dry slowly over time (next to a heater, radiatior, outside, etc.).