Jacket in washing machine question

[Holt]

Hi.i have another wested lamb that is a bit to big for me.this is just a exprient jacket that I can beat up as much as I want..just wanted to see how this washing shrinking effect works

can I throw it in the washing machine high heat 80* and let air dry

will it shrink the jacket?

best
Holt

[bigrex]

I think I read you lose between 0.5 - 0.75 inches (12-19mm) in the sleeves, but I have not tried it. Maybe someone who has done so will chime in. High heat and the quick drying would increase the shrinking amount. I imagine your leather would not come out completely unscathed depending on the type, but that is only a supposition on my part.

[rick5150]

I will take a lot of @#$% for this post, but here it is anyways. Yes, it is stupid of me to do this to my jackets. Yes, I realize that I have ruined (and will ruin) a lot more jackets. No, I am not recommending that anyone else do this, just sharing my trials and errors, so that maybe others can learn from my experiences. God knows I don't. I have a different quest than most, so please just accept that I will continue to do these things regardless of the comments here. With that said:

Do not confuse the different effects of washing and drying.

Washing a jacket will usually not have any major effect on the leather. My experience with using this technique - both with natural soaking and using the washing machine - is that unless you have very thin leather or extremely hot water, the washing machine (even with detergent) does not shrink a good quality leather very much.

You will want to make sure that if your washing machine has an agitator that the jacket does not get hung up in the same spot for too long so you should check it often. If the jacket is very stiff it may just sit there rubbing against the agitator and the dye can wear off in that spot. It is the drying process, that does the most "damage."

I have had some luck shrinking jackets using short bursts of dryer heat. If you toss the jacket in the dryer for an hour and walk away, you may find that you come back to a mess. But try medium heat for a couple of minutes at a time. That way you can check the fit and stop the drying process if the jacket appears to be shrinking too much or if you notice other oddities. These include the zipper getting wavy, or the lining shrinking more (or less) than the leather. You may want to take particular notice of the direction of shrinkage. Depending on the direction of the leather "grain", you may have one sleeve get narrower and the other get shorter.

Oh, and I would be leery of wetting either Wested's lambskin or Todd's calfskin if you have been thinking of doing that to either. Both of mine shrunk just from the soaking process. These jackets once fit perfectly and now they no longer fit because they got wet. I was very careful with drying them (due to a past issue with my favorite Wested lambskin that went to Binkmeister Rick) and allowed them to air dry in a lab that I believe is maintained at approximately 70 degrees F @ 50% RH. The 70 degrees may vary =/- 2 degrees.

That is my litmus test for a usable jacket in the real world. If it survives the washer or a good soaking, I consider it a well-made, tough jacket. Otherwise, I ruin it, get rid of it and go to the next one.

Wested cowhide and goat seem to hold up with a good soaking, but obviously, watch the drying method. I cannot speak of Todd's other leathers since I do not have them.

My Aero FQHH, Vanson Cowhide, Schott Cowhide, Magnoli Cowhide, Lost Worlds horsehide have all held up very well. The Vanson and Magnoli jacket actually taken on a nice shape if you spin dry, then let them sit for a day. I lay them on a towel wide open. The second day, when the jacket is damp, you should wear it a bit and bend your arms a lot. It may take a few days to a few weeks to completely dry.

And of course, always condition the jacket after it completely dries using the leather conditioner of your choice.

[Michaelson]

I have washed a lambskin Wested LC before (could not remove cigar smoke with any convential manner at the time). The only things I experienced of a negative nature was to have the satin lining come loose from the cuff in one sleeve that I resewed. I also had some color and leather surface 'sluff' off the jacket on the front and back leaving bare spots. These I 'fixed' using brown Pecards so they were not noticeable.

I allowed it to hang/air dry. It took 4 days before it was completely dry, as the cotton main lining held water for a LONG time.

After an application of Pecards jell, it was fine. No shrinkage either.

It was given to another fan, and they were tickled to death with the jacket. Well, at least the price was right.....free!

Regards! Michaelson

[rick5150]

I have washed a lambskin Wested LC before...

Hey, that counts as artificial distressing!!!

[bigrex]

I have washed a lambskin Wested LC before (could not remove cigar smoke

Regards! Michaelson

Gross, cigar smoke, I would've probably tossed it in the washer as well.

[Michaelson]

I have washed a lambskin Wested LC before...

Hey, that counts as artificial distressing!!!

In this case, it was self survival. My wife was getting ready to toss it in the backyard!

Regards! Michaelson

[Holt]

Hi gang.thanks for the reply on this issue..

well I had washed my lambskin 80* heat.man.!!!....did I regret!!!
when I took it out the jacket had almost lost all its color...it was VERY light brown when it dryed up..

so I rubbed in a thick layer with clear new mink oil with beeswax without the linolin and it fixed up the jacket right away.the jacket color looks so great and it became darker at once.it has the screen color now

1)now my only worrie is will the oil wanish in the jacket after wearing it and turn light brown again?

2)or will the darker color stay in the fibers of the leather forever and just the shine that goes away after wearing?

3)when applying more mink oil after the first go will it become any more darker?or does it come to a point that it wont darken anymore?

thanks
Holt

[Carolina Tom]

Anybody had any luck with leaving the jacket in a really hot car or using the hair dryer on it? If heat will shrink it, maybe this will work and it would be much less agressive than a clothes dryer. Just thinking . . . Carolina Tom

[djd]

I've dunked a lamb Wested in a sink of ht water and then it dry naturally - it still shrank quite noticably

[Indyzane]

Be careful!

[Texan Scott]

One technique that has worked for me in the past is I have zipped it all the way up and closed the hand warmer pockets with duct tape, put the jacket on a hanger and did the hot water treatment in the shower. Next I soaked the collar in the sink sperately, trying not to wet the lining. Once it was soaked pretty well, I patted it with a towel, removed the tape, and put it in the dryer. The jackets have shrunk slightly (1/2 to 1 inch) relative to the back length and sleeves.

The reasoning is you control the amount and temp. of the water on the jacket, not the other way around.

[baldahark2]

The second Wested I bought was WAY too big (my own fault)- big body, and sleeves were very long, so I washed it and dried it for a LONG time, like a full hour. I would not recommend doing this because I think I just got very lucky, but when I took it out it had shrunk ALOT, which ended up being perfect! And man, this jacket was SOFT- i mean like good god soft. But again, I got lucky. And other people have mentioned that when a leather jacket shrinks, the zipper does not, so sometimes you get a zipper that just wont get straight- and that happened a bit on mine, but not enough to make it look bad.
As for the fit, it looks very much like in Raiders! Except of course it isn't distressed yet. That's what my first jacket was for!