SOAKING LEATHER AND PUTTING IT IN DRYER???

[BLAKE]

I know this may sound like a retarded question, but I have no experience with distressing. I was curious though if soaking and then drying a leather jacket in the dryer would ruin it. Will it cause it to shrink?? If I was going to distress my jacket, I would do it the way many have listed here, yet I was just curious what would happen. Any input???
Blake

[Ragingblues]

Wetting it will definitely change the texture and overall character of the jacket. The dryer can be used on low heat for brief periods of time if you want to shrink it down. You have to monitor it closely, especially if you have the satin lining. You can use the dryer on tumble dry with no heat, to help break in the jacket and really soften it up nicely.

In both dryer cases, I recommend putting the jacket inside a pillow case and tying the open end sht with string. If the jacket just beats around inside the dryer by itself, it will also beat up your hardware, zipper, etc.... If that doesn't bother you, then it adds another layer of quick wear to the jacket.

If you plan to distress certain areas with sand paper, I make this suggestion. Use ultra fine sand paper (400 grit or above), or even a brown paper bag. The effect is more like burnishing the surface which removes color to the degree you like, but leaves the leather itself unharmed. Of course.... go lightly as you can always do more work later. Brown Pecards can help color areas that may have been hit too hard too. It's not permanent, but does last a while.

I hope this helps. Let us know what you decide to do and of course, pics are nice.

Ken

[pagey]

I have a standard way of breaking in all new leather jackets that I get. I wear them constantly - in the house and when I go out. I throw them in a heap on the floor when I take them off. If I'm not wearing the jacket I bunch it into a ball and sit on it like a cushion. If it gets wet from the rain I screw it into a ball an let it dry like that. Usually after a week or two the jacket already looks like "my jacket".
This horsehide jacket is 2 days old
i7.photobucket.com/albums/y285/pagey1512/IMG_0128.jpg

[Ragingblues]

All the natural methods work nicely too, though not nearly as quickly. You can achieve the look of years of natural wear and not damage the jacket, if that's the direction you choose. I wanted to make sure he was aware of the potential of messing the jacket up, if not careful.


Ken

[Kaplan]

It definitely shrinks the jacket significantly. My g&b 44T that I bought recently fit me way too big out of the bag, so I soaked it and sent it through the dryer and it came out fitting me perfectly. But we are talking about the sleeves shrinking about 2 inches!

[BLAKE]

Thanks for all these helpful tips guys. I think I am going to try the dryer. The jacket is a tad big, and its an older jacket I got from Disney, when they sold the ones that looked authentic. I will definitely post pics when I get the chance. Really appreciate it.
Blake

[indianablooze]

I have short arms, relatively, and the sleeves on my Wested lamb 'engulfed' my hand, down to the first knuckle of my fingers. I gave it a good soaking in very hot water and then put it on a table and let it air dry. The sleeves shrunk down to where they now only go to the first knuckle of my tumbs. The body of the jacket also shrunk slightly, the sleeves, almost 2 inches.

[juliank]

From what I understand it also depends on the hide. Goat for example shrinks more predictably than cowhide.

[locoindhead]

Does soaking the jacket harm the satin liners in wested jackets at all???

[Ragingblues]

No, wetting or even soaking the jacket doesn't affect the satin liner. If you happen to try shrinking the jacket with heat, beware that the satin could get too hot and begin to melt. It doesn't shrink up the way the leather does, so if you went nuts with the shrinking... you could wind up with a baggy liner.


Ken

[Kaplan]

admin said:

No, wetting or even soaking the jacket doesn't affect the satin liner. If you happen to try shrinking the jacket with heat, beware that the satin could get too hot and begin to melt. It doesn't shrink up the way the leather does, so if you went nuts with the shrinking... you could wind up with a baggy liner.
Ken

This is good advice. I just spent $40 getting my baggy liners on my two G&B's taken in. They look and feel great now though.