Club Obi Wan

I decided to artificially distress my Raiders jacket to remove gloss and smooth side of lambskin. I bought it as a used jacket, very soft and smooth leather, nappa probably...
Simply use acetone applied liberally with a cloth... and then ice water bath to stop the effect of acetone. No sandpaper, too risky for seams ... What do you think of the result?

Pics before distressing:











...And after distressing:







Inside, with a flash use which overly accentuating the distress effect, giving him a Last Crusade small side:







And outside, with natural light:

Good job Didier,do you apply a coat of leather care ( Pecard,Sapo,etc..)after the distressing ?

thanks, Indymasssilia...Yes, two layers of nourishing milk for leather...

And now Last Crusade Wested Jacket, still with acetone...

Before:







After:





...Soon other pics...

Hello! I am new here, but I am a lifelong fan of Indy. I just purchased a Wested Indy jacket in lambskin (I believe, but I'm not sure since I purchased secondhand on eBay), and I am thinking of distressing. So you just use Acetone with a cloth, and then apply an ice water bath? Any tips on this process, or things to be careful for?

What exactly do you mean when you say ice water bath? As in, with a rag or with submersion? I would assume not submersion, but I thought I'd ask.

Thanks!

--IndianaHenry

IndianaHenry wrote:Hello! I am new here, but I am a lifelong fan of Indy. I just purchased a Wested Indy jacket in lambskin (I believe, but I'm not sure since I purchased secondhand on eBay), and I am thinking of distressing. So you just use Acetone with a cloth, and then apply an ice water bath? Any tips on this process, or things to be careful for?

What exactly do you mean when you say ice water bath? As in, with a rag or with submersion? I would assume not submersion, but I thought I'd ask.

Thanks!

--IndianaHenry

Hi, IndianaHenry,

Yes, I just use acetone with a cloth, apply generously...
and I just gave a quick light shower of cold water on the leather to stop the effect of acetone (no bath with submersion). The only precaution to take, for me, is to protect the cotton lining (or satin) by simply closing the jacket during the distressing process. I hope it can help you

IndianaHenry wrote:Hello! I am new here, but I am a lifelong fan of Indy. I just purchased a Wested Indy jacket in lambskin (I believe, but I'm not sure since I purchased secondhand on eBay), and I am thinking of distressing. So you just use Acetone with a cloth, and then apply an ice water bath? Any tips on this process, or things to be careful for?

What exactly do you mean when you say ice water bath? As in, with a rag or with submersion? I would assume not submersion, but I thought I'd ask.

Thanks!

--IndianaHenry

I've never used the acetone method so I can't say anything about it but I know a lot of people have, and Didier your jacket looks great by the way . I've always used a dish sponge (the coarse side) and just lightly go over the jacket with it. On the areas you want to distress more just put a heavier hand on it and work that area more. Remember you can only take away, you can't add back. That said, you can always add a cream like Pecards to bring it "back to life" but the leather is still distressed below the conditioner.
Another method a lot of guys have used is water. Get the jacket wet and wear it around the house. Water will help get rid of the shine and if you wear it wet until it dries it will form to your body better.
Also IndianaHenry, since you are new here there's a link on the top right to our search engine, titled "search" ;-). From there you can find about anything related to distressing techniques, repairs, or practically anything to do in this hobby.

Good luck and happy searching


-TS

...Sleep one or two full nights with the jacket can also be an idea to give beautiful leather wrinkles, even if it may not be very comfortable

Didier
What Hide is the LC? Its got a great undertone.
ZOLTAR

It's authentic lambskin, Zoltar

I just saw your crusade distressing,bravo Didier,it's right ,acetone done a good job even it's a dangerous product to breath(protect yourself well),need glove and mask gas,a fine sandpaper used for model kit like Tamiya 1000 can do a good job too..if ther are not the good undertone(to grey,etc..)you can still apply some leather special for coloring.
Sorry the video was in french:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGZfJJvIgow" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have had the exact same lamsbkin LC of the rack jacket and the undertone is good but not that red. It looks like the pictures were taken with flash and the flash of the camera brings out a more red color.

Great job distressing the jacket.

Nice distressing

I have a cowhide Wested Raiders jacket, which I gave 3 coats of Glyptone "weatherproofer" - a British restoration product for old car seats. Softens, darkens and has the bonus of giving a bit of weather protection.

I didn't photograph it before but it delivered similar results Didier.

The back of the LC jacket came out especially well. I tried acetone on a Wested Raiders jacket last year, but I don't think I used enough of it to really change the back and sleeves the way you did. Now I'm down to one jacket and don't want to risk it in case I mess up. I think I need a backup jacket on which to experiment. I really want to try a wire brush and scotch pad...

What is this acetone effect some of you are talking about? Why give it a cold water bath/shower after using acetone? Does alcohol require the same final step as acetone?

Acetone is used to remove some of the finish on the leather, not dissimilar from alcohol.

I think the cold water is simply to wash off any acetone to keep it from continuing to dissolve the finish. Cold water will be less likely to shrink the leather than hot, though getting a jacket wet can always affect the sizing.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Have any of you ever had an experience with a finish getting dry after using acetone or alcohol? I find myself wondering if I should be using something to re-moisturize the finish itself after rubbing it with alcohol.

And how about the finish getting tacky? It seems like my Wested goat that I just rubbed with alcohol is now getting sticky. it's been about a week. Kind of weird, because it didn't feel sticky a day or two afterward, but now it seems to be getting that way.

Prodigal Son wrote:Have any of you ever had an experience with a finish getting dry after using acetone or alcohol? I find myself wondering if I should be using something to re-moisturize the finish itself after rubbing it with alcohol.

And how about the finish getting tacky? It seems like my Wested goat that I just rubbed with alcohol is now getting sticky. it's been about a week. Kind of weird, because it didn't feel sticky a day or two afterward, but now it seems to be getting that way.

....And now it's no longer tacky. It was sticky/tacky for a little bit, maybe a week and then went back to normal. Now it's fine. So, in case any of you with goat skin Wested jackets were wondering..... there you go.

Anyone put their jacket in the dryer on tumblr no heat, just air dry?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes ... i have ... it has the effect of giving it a very relaxed feel ... personally I wouldn’t do it till its super dry but have it a little damp so you can pull and reshape it still. Go too dry and it can be devastating ... as i have found out

Been distressing my Wested raiders legacy jacket for a while, a lot of actual wearing but some small additions every now and then. Bit of scrubbing, bit of watering, bit of rubbing in the dirt etc. Feel it’s really getting there. I want to add some patina in areas that rub up against the real world often and leather tends to shine and buff up as opposed to scratching.

Another tip for photo’s of your distressed jacket is to rub it in dirt just before you photograph it. Just like body builders oil up to show off their muscles.

What do y’all think of the job so far? Any tips, advice or feedback?

That last picture looks fabulous!

Thanks, fabulous is a fabulous word!