Distressed Wested Lambskin - New Photo 5/14/07

[Ragingblues]

Very nice of you guys to say!

I have found the best way to make my gear look really screen accurate is to just keep my head, arms, legs, or any other body part out of the photo! ;D

Thanks much,

Ken

[Prof.Wex]

Hey RB,

Man your jacket looks great , I just received my first lamb from wested, my other is the HH, theres a huge difference in the weight. I gotta say that after seeing your pics I think I'm gonna get started distressing mine. Got any tips, I mean what the first thing I should do? Should I start with the water treatment then go from there? I hope to achieve the same effect you got. I wet my HH and it turned out great, It actually improved the fit. Im not sure how the lamb responds to water but I'm not afraid to try it.

Sincerely, Prof.Wex

[Ragingblues]

Thanks alot Prof.Wex!

The first post of this thread actually lists some of the things I have done to this jacket. I also wet it under the faucet outside, and then dried it in the dryer (closely monitored of course). I even misted it a few times and wadded it up to let it dry. As I have said before though.... the wrinkles do not stay and will fall out if it's hung or laid flat. the character of the leather, however, will be permanently changed once it's been soaked.

Another great way to break them in is the old tumble dry (no heat) in the dryer trick for hours. You can put the jacket inside a pillow case if you are worried about the metal hardware getting nicked up too.

I think moderation is the key when sanding, since you can always do more if you need to. Using only fine grit paper (400 grit for example) helps to just remove color without hacking up the leather itself. To me, this is safer than working with acetone.

Being a great artist, I have no doubt you will use a tasteful approach to your own jacket, and I look forward to seeing it no matter what path you take.

Thanks again,

Ken

[locoindhead]

I first intended to distress my wested Raiders, but now I freak I brush up against anything. i need a second one to distress.

[Ragingblues]

I agree. It's hard to actually do this sort of thing to your only... brand new jacket. Of course, it's not the cheapest thing in the world to go around buying extra jackets just to distress either. So, I can see someone wanting to buy only one, just for the purpose of making it there screen looking jacket. That was my intention as well, though I wound up getting a second one for really cheap and used that one to distress instead.


Ken

[locoindhead]

Sweet jacket

[Ragingblues]

Thanks!


Ken

[locoindhead]

Sweet distress, gotta love it

[indakin]

nice job ken. Im looking for ways to actually soften the leather and not exactly distress is sandpaper wise with scratching. How can i get the wrinkly soft leather look without soaking and possibley shrinking my jacket? Whats this about using a brown paper bag too, i read that somewhere from something you mentioned. Ill try to bristle brush too. Im also thinking of getting something hard metal with texture to roll on the surface in areas, something like a round cheese gradder but not exactly that, i dont want to get yelled at by the rents lol. Given this todds jacket is jsut fitting me, i dont wnat to shrink it at all.

[Ragingblues]

indakin said:

nice job ken. Im looking for ways to actually soften the leather and not exactly distress is sandpaper wise with scratching. How can i get the wrinkly soft leather look without soaking and possibley shrinking my jacket? Whats this about using a brown paper bag too, i read that somewhere from something you mentioned. Ill try to bristle brush too. Im also thinking of getting something hard metal with texture to roll on the surface in areas, something like a round cheese gradder but not exactly that, i dont want to get yelled at by the rents lol. Given this todds jacket is jsut fitting me, i dont wnat to shrink it at all.

Your welcome Bryan! The brown paper bag thing is a really like using an ultra-ultra fine sandpaper and just burnishes the surface. This can remove shine or color depending on how hard you work with it, and doesn't add the danger of going too far with chemicals. I actually first heard of using a brown paper bag this way to finely burnish wood furniture before staining/finishing.

I can understand you not wanting it to shrink. In most cases, people have these jackets that are too roomy or long. You can still tumble dry it in a pillow case (to protect the metal parts), using no heat. This will really help soften it up without risking any shrinkage.

Whatever route you choose, it's certain to look great with your artistic skills.


Ken

[indakin]

hmm i wouldnt think a tumble dry would really do that much. Ill give it a shot though.