Five Star Leather Jackets

[Hobbes1]

@ton312
I've been working it...rolling/folding/bending/wearing/etc.
It is more relaxed than day 1 but still would be, for me, unenjoyable to wear out and about. I hope the oil will make it better and I feel fairly confident that it will also improve the look of the leather. We shall see but I will keep you posted. Cheers

 

[Hobbes1]

That's funny (not in a bad way). I assume he came up with the "CHL" out of confusion from so many western jacket nerds asking him when he'll have "heavy CXL"; whereas 'semi-vegetable tanned steer' is what actual CXL is.

I thought CXL was also a heavily wax-impregnated (and maybe other things as well?) hide? I'm not as knowledgeable as many here so could be you are completely right and IDK what I'm talking about
The WhatsApp method is the best method to contact Shawn but I don't think it's always him replying. I sometimes don't get a reply at all and other times get answers exactly to my question...sometimes bits of a reply that seem incomplete. I can't get a straight answer about this particular steer hide....I have a steerhide jacket from them already that is really squeaky and I don't want to repeat that.

 

[Aloysius]

I thought CXL was also a heavily wax-impregnated (and maybe other things as well?) hide?

It is, yeah. But I'm saying combination-tan is more determinant of what CXL is than just "heavy leather".

 

[Canuck Panda]

CHL Jacket members. There is hope for our jackets! Mine was abandoned in the back of the closet until now. After a quick spa session this afternoon, it no longer stands:

So google was right. Alcohol wipe down and moisturize did the trick. I was too lazy to go to the store and get the Vaseline, so I just used whatever hand lotion that was under my sink. I figured if it was good enough for human hands it be good enough for leather jacket. This is just some drugs store lotion for 10 dollars too. And now I have Lavender tanned premium hide jacket. Lol.

Don't be afraid to go at it with moisturizer. No right or wrong way of doing it. You can marinate a steak you can do this. I started off carefully wiping with paper towel, then just went and got a kitchen rag to speed things up. The whole moisturizing process was about half an hour. No one was beaten or hurt. Lol. Sorry had to add that in.

The belly and the upper shoulder back were two areas I went back to moisturize twice. They were always the problem area for me when I sit or when I move my arms. But no more.

The dark brown CHL also soften up. But still needs more spa treatments to get to the tan version. I gotta go run a few errands now so it would be another day.

A lot of lotion went into these two jackets. About 200 ml, And they can take more. I suspect these leather were shrunken at the tannery for strength. Very solid stuff for the price. It's very different than CXL, but the moisturized version is pretty decent. Can we ask Shawn for moisturize service? Lol. And it smells better than any veg tan jacket. I will try to find some steak flavor hand lotions for my next one. That'll get it to the CXL level.

Cheers!

 

[Hobbes1]

Thanks for posting this. I'm so glad there is hope. I will give mine a go this week as well.

Cheers!!

CHL Jacket members. There is hope for our jackets! Mine was abandoned in the back of the closet until now. After a quick spa session this afternoon, it no longer stands:

View attachment 368533
So google was right. Alcohol wipe down and moisturize did the trick. I was too lazy to go to the store and get the Vaseline, so I just used whatever hand lotion that was under my sink. I figured if it was good enough for human hands it be good enough for leather jacket. This is just some drugs store lotion for 10 dollars too. And now I have Lavender tanned premium hide jacket. Lol.

Don't be afraid to go at it with moisturizer. No right or wrong way of doing it. You can marinate a steak you can do this. I started off carefully wiping with paper towel, then just went and got a kitchen rag to speed things up. The whole moisturizing process was about half an hour. No one was beaten or hurt. Lol. Sorry had to add that in.

The belly and the upper shoulder back were two areas I went back to moisturize twice. They were always the problem area for me when I sit or when I move my arms. But no more.

View attachment 368534
View attachment 368535
View attachment 368536
View attachment 368537
The dark brown CHL also soften up. But still needs more spa treatments to get to the tan version. I gotta go run a few errands now so it would be another day.

View attachment 368538
A lot of lotion went into these two jackets. About 200 ml, And they can take more. I suspect these leather were shrunken at the tannery for strength. Very solid stuff for the price. It's very different than CXL, but the moisturized version is pretty decent. Can we ask Shawn for moisturize service? Lol. And it smells better than any veg tan jacket. I will try to find some steak flavor hand lotions for my next one. That'll get it to the CXL level.

Cheers!

View attachment 368541

 

[TheDonEffect]

Nice result!

 

[PilotJens]

Nice happy to see you guys experimenting with fat liqouring the CHL .I saw a video about making cxl and that they add soft oils to soften after hot stuffing with hard wax .

Maybe we should ask shawn to increase the soft oil content .

I guess the CHL has a 13% fat content to make it stiffer . Going up 15-18% should be good and maybe some tumbling

 

[Canuck Panda]

@PilotJens You're spot on about adding soft oil content. The CHL can take a lot of moisturizing. I'm gonna keep adding to the dark brown one and see how much lotion it can absorb and hopefully it gets down to soft temper for comfortable wear.

I gave up on the CHL before. It wasn't until a recent nudge that pushed me to give it another try. I'm glad that happened. The softer CHL made all the difference. I am now seeing it in a different light. CHL was never meant to be CXL replacement, it has the bones of an affordable Badalassi. My theory is that the CHL is also front shoulders cut of leather, like Badalassi. That's why it's thick but don't feel heavy. The only thing Badalassi has over CHL now is the softness and of course the name brand.

I am hoping when I dye my natural CHL reddish dark brown it will look and feel just like the Badalassi.

In theory, Shawn could do this and hand dyes his natural CHL. Boom! He will save on inventory cost, and we get burgundy, BRG, navy, real teacore everything. And finally, my 1930s dreams can all come alive!

Awsome brainstorming. Thanks pilotjens.

 

[Hobbes1]

I started working on mine with Obenauf’s Leather Oil. Will see how it progresses and what color the leather turns out. This is freshly applied and the label says wait 7-14 days for final color result. I’m thinking that if it seems flat after that, I might source some beeswax and try that to shine it up a bit. First things first. Trying to get it comfortable to wear.

edit: I have gotten all the front and both sides of the sleeves done as well as across the shoulders. Gonna try to finish the back tonight as well. FWIW, one thing I can say about this CHL leather is that it seems really, really thirsty. Very little of the Obenauf's Oil is pooling on the surface of the jacket. Most is absorbed immediately. I am wiping off excess right away but there is not much coming off. Onward!

 

[Canuck Panda]

Great work @Hobbes1! I believe the color will lighten back up. And you’re spot on about how much conditioning this CHL leather can take.

I’ve lost heat tonight, 20 year old boiler, wet and cold outside now. So the most logical thing was to do some work. Lol. The 2.2mm dark CHL has been wined and dined and massaged. Now she is opening up to unlimited possibilities.

Funny how boiler always seems to go out on the coolest day of the week.

But:

The darkest brown jacket is the Aero CXL HH, thinnest of the group, 1.2mm tops. This was from the thinner CXL batch. So it creases.

The brown leather material is Badalassi Vachetta leather, about 2.2mm thick. Soft but does not crease because of its thickness.

The two tone jacket uses the brown CHL (first generation) and thick black goat. It’s had two spa treatments, and it now has soften up dramatically. I believe another trip to the spa tomorrow will make her as pretty as her vegan gal friend from Italy.

A lot of hours were put into oiling the leather before the Badalassi left the tannery, that’s why it’s expensive premium product. That’s my theory at least.
The CHL may have a more humbled beginning, but it has a solid foundation, and with some sweat equity, it has the potential to transform.

 

[TheDonEffect]

Indeed, the brown chl I have is beautiful, the color is spot on and it didn't take much to coax character out of it. It does have a stubborn memory though.

As canuck said, there's a ton of potential here that Shawn could turn into a solid product. I think the issue is that his first point of reference was the crazy heavy cxl hl121 sent way back when.

 

[Aloysius]

I think the issue is that his first point of reference was the crazy heavy cxl hl121 sent way back when.

Yet another problem caused by the jacket nerd fetishization of always using the heaviest leather, haha.

 

[TheDonEffect]

Yet another problem caused by the jacket nerd fetishization of always using the heaviest leather, haha.

Indeed. But to be fair by him doing that Shawn was able to begin the process of offering more interesting leather and showcase 5* potential. When I ordered mine I had Shawn skive it down to a 2.5-3oz so I guess that's why mine broke in with just tumbling it in the dryer and water. If you order the full 4 or 5 oz. I mean whoever makes it the leather will be beastly.

It's a great leather and a bargain for its price, if you know how to order from 5* I wouldn't hesitate to get it (skived of course). But, it is not a replacement for the stalwarts. There's a level of finesse and finishing that's just not there yet, when have it next to a badalassi or a Horween hide the differences become much more apparent. By itself though they are beautiful. I still have mine even though I can't wear it, it's such a good looking leather. The brown is probably one of the best browns I've seen.

I hear others have sent him shinki and some other hides, so that should be interesting.

 

[Hobbes1]

I hope you got some heat back by now!
Thanks for the updates and encouragement. Hoping these jackets can be improved with our treatments

Great work @Hobbes1! I believe the color will lighten back up. And you’re spot on about how much conditioning this CHL leather can take.

I’ve lost heat tonight, 20 year old boiler, wet and cold outside now. So the most logical thing was to do some work. Lol. The 2.2mm dark CHL has been wined and dined and massaged. Now she is opening up to unlimited possibilities.

View attachment 368964
Funny how boiler always seems to go out on the coolest day of the week.

But:
View attachment 368965

The darkest brown jacket is the Aero CXL HH, thinnest of the group, 1.2mm tops. This was from the thinner CXL batch. So it creases.

The brown leather material is Badalassi Vachetta leather, about 2.2mm thick. Soft but does not crease because of its thickness.

The two tone jacket uses the brown CHL (first generation) and thick black goat. It’s had two spa treatments, and it now has soften up dramatically. I believe another trip to the spa tomorrow will make her as pretty as her vegan gal friend from Italy.

A lot of hours were put into oiling the leather before the Badalassi left the tannery, that’s why it’s expensive premium product. That’s my theory at least.
The CHL may have a more humbled beginning, but it has a solid foundation, and with some sweat equity, it has the potential to transform.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Thanks @Hobbes1 No heat yet. Hopefully by tomorrow. So maybe another round of leather conditioning tonight. Lol.

@TheDonEffect I've sent Shawn Horween Vermont Horsehide. And I assume that's what he calls his new mid brown horsehide. I will compare it to Horween's Vermont when it gets here. It may be a while though. Custom jackets seems to take longer these days and I've just put in the order.

 

[TheDonEffect]

Thanks @Hobbes1 No heat yet. Hopefully by tomorrow. So maybe another round of leather conditioning tonight. Lol.

@TheDonEffect I've sent Shawn Horween Vermont Horsehide. And I assume that's what he calls his new mid brown horsehide. I will compare it to Horween's Vermont when it gets here. It may be a while though. Custom jackets seems to take longer these days and I've just put in the order.

That should be interesting.

 

[Socalal]

I thought CXL was also a heavily wax-impregnated (and maybe other things as well?) hide? I'm not as knowledgeable as many here so could be you are completely right and IDK what I'm talking about
The WhatsApp method is the best method to contact Shawn but I don't think it's always him replying. I sometimes don't get a reply at all and other times get answers exactly to my question...sometimes bits of a reply that seem incomplete. I can't get a straight answer about this particular steer hide....I have a steerhide jacket from them already that is really squeaky and I don't want to repeat that.

Hobbes1-
I'm with you that the responses from Shawn on WhatsApp seem to come from different people. Sometimes the reply doesn't make a whole lot of sense, other times it's straight to the point and clear as a bell.

 

[MrProper]

I only communicate with Shawn via FB Messenger. And even there, I occasionally had the feeling that I was writing with different people.

 

[Canuck Panda]

It's normal. I used to do that too. When the incoming email gets pass 50 first thing in the morning, just reading through them takes a whole day. That's why I separated general work one and personal one now.
I would imagine Shawn gets close to hundred emails a day. From hey what's up to where is my ___ jacket to whatever other business matters he has to deal with. But in my experience he will always get you an answer, some times it may be a few days, but I haven't been ghosted by him.

 

[Socalal]

It's normal. I used to do that too. When the incoming email gets pass 50 first thing in the morning, just reading through them takes a whole day. That's why I separated general work one and personal one now.
I would imagine Shawn gets close to hundred emails a day. From hey what's up to where is my ___ jacket to whatever other business matters he has to deal with. But in my experience he will always get you an answer, some times it may be a few days, but I haven't been ghosted by him.

No doubt Shawn is inundated with messages but it's frustrating when the reply leaves you scratching the old bean. It's like "huh"? So for me it's not the response time, it's the fact that when I do hear back sometimes the reply makes little or no sense (to me). I'm never sure what it's gonna be.
Oh well...