Club Obi Wan

Here's my new Gibson & Barnes Goatskin Expedition after it's been through a full warm water wash cycle in the washing machine. I washed it with my regular clothes and a full cup of Woolite. After it came out I blotted some of the water out with a towel and then threw it in the dryer with 3 large bath towels and put it on low heat for 70 minutes.

It was still damp when it came out so then I wore it all that night, slept in it and wore it all the next day and slept in it again so it basically dried on my body. I can safely say that it's broken in now.

These pictures were taken today by my 6 year old son. Some in the shade, some in the sun.







Yes I know I need a hat!

That looks awesome!! Shame I don't have a tumble drier or I'd do the same!!

That's a great looking jacket, TheMechanic. Bravo on the breaking in.

Thanks guys, the difference is night and day. I wouldn't try it with any other jacket. The G&B is built to take some real abuse. This jacket is proof of that. Not one loose stitch anywhere.

I'm really impressed with the construction of this jacket.

That looks terrific. G and B should put these pictures on their website for advertising.

Yeah with a huge discliamer "Attempt at your own risk!"

Great job on the jacket.

Has anyone ever told you if you cut and died your hair you could be a Harrison Ford double?

I wish my son could take shots of me like that. He's only 3 and when he takes pics they are usually of a foot or a wall.

Cut my hair?! I'll lose all my strength!
I grew my hair out for another project so when I get my hat I'll tuck it up inside or something.

Looks Great.

Did it shrink any at all?

Randall

Hi Mech. Correct me if I am wrong, but that's a 44reg and you are 5-10", about 180 lbs, right?

Did the jacket shrink much, if at all, from this process?

I'm 5'10" and about 172. My G&B is a 42R.
The jacket did shrink a little which is good, that's what I was going for. I was surprised at how loose the fit on the jacket was so I knew that if it shrunk it would fit better which it does now.
The sleeves seem to have shortened about 1/2" which is also good as the sleeves were a bit too long.

Looks like my Wested "washed" goat....

That jacket really does look great. Looks like you took the shine right out of the leather. Overall it only shrank a little. That is amazing after washing and drying it.

I wonder if Peter over at Wested does the same thing to achieve the "matte" look of his washed goats....i.e. running the regular goats into a big commercial washing machine. The leather of my washed goat looks so different than my G&B goat, that they look like they came from 2 different species of animals!

Great looking jacket. I'm thinking of the GB myself. Which color is that? Seal reg or seal dark?
Again looks great.

I ordered "dark brown" on their website. I don't know what it is really but it's dark.

Glad you like it. I like it too Can't go wrong with these guys.

Your jacket looks much more matt in your photos. Is that real or is it the photography/light? I really like this matt finish if your washing process achieved this.

I'm still waiting for my jacket to arrive

The jacket is very shiney when it's new. I gave the jacket a rub down with denatured alcohol first to dull the shine a little and then washed it.

After it was fully dry I gave it a very light treatment of Pecards as best I could. That stuff is like Vasoline. I thought the Pecards would make it shine again, but after a few days it had the matte look once more.

Didn't you get a rash from wearing a wet jacket for two days and nights?

It really does look great!

No, the jacket was damp but not wet. I did have to change my t-shirt twice when I first started wearing it, but then it was dry enough. It's not very comfortable wearing a wet/damp leather jacket but it gives you the best results.

Your jacket is fantastic TM!(one of the nicest I've seen on COW) ,it looks supple but rugged- like it will last a life-time..just shows that you don't have to rub sandpaper on a jacket to get great results.

That's exactly what I was going for. I did not want to do any destructive ageing to my jacket. I didn't really age it at all, I just broke it in.

Thanks for the kind words.

So did the denatured alcohol take the shine off even before you washed it?
Still looks great.

Yes it did. The denatured alcohol helped to knock down the shine. The washing did the rest.

it looks very good man.the wash does wonders

just a bit of topic...is that the magnoli bag or the original...what bag strap is that?


thanks
Holt

That's my original bag and it's a Todd's deluxe bag strap. It's getting replaced by a Keppler strap as soon as he gets around to mailing it to me.

TheMechanic wrote:Cut my hair?! I'll lose all my strength!
.

That's exactly what I would tell people when I had long hair.

The G&B looks awsome, and I especially like the long side straps. Very nice work..... BTW- All this time I thought the eye patch was real