Are you the sort of person that wants that heavily broken in look in your leather jackets, and you want it quickly? If so, I hope you find this post useful. If you prefer your new horsehide jacket to stay looking new, then this post is not for you. Personally I like utility clothing to look careworn, but if I can’t get vintage, then new is my only option. The thing is, how to get that lived in look when you don’t have 10 years to spare or if you don’t wear your leather jacket everyday?
Here is my recently bought Aero jacket in their standard brown horsehide, before and after my quick breaking in process.
No, I don't know why these pictures are so small.
I thought about the things that create patina in old heavy leather utility jackets and reckon the main factors to be:
• Creasing and stretching around the body
• Abrasion
• Polishing
• Dirt
Makers like Lost Worlds and Aero, when asked about breaking in horsehide recommend wearing the jackets in the rain. So what is it about water that ages horsehide? Well I think it causes the first effects that go to form patina, i.e. creasing and stretching. When really soaked through, horsehide becomes a little stretchy and malleable, and when dry holds the creases and shape it gets into when wet.
So my plan was to get my jacket very wet. Now I live in the UK, so we are not short of rain, but I could not see myself waiting for heavy rain, then going out for a long walk in it (how long?). Horsehide seems to be able to repel water quite well, so in any case going out in the rain is not going to have much impact, as the wetness just stays on the surface of the leather. What I needed to do was to simulate what might happen to a jacket on something like a long motorcycle ride in heavy rain. So, step one of my process was to soak the jacket in rainwater. If you want to do the same you will need to find a bucket or something that allows you to fully drown the jacket. I can’t prove this, but I think the type of water might make a difference. I used rainwater I collected in my garden in a barrel (US loungers may be amused to hear that in the UK we call this a rainwater butt).
So, I soaked my jacket for about half an hour, which seemed enough to get the leather completely wet through. Now, if you are thinking about doing this with your own jacket, you need to consider shrinkage. You know how Levi’s 501s will shrink two inches in the waist and leg when washed for the first time, even in cold water? Well, the same thing could happen to the lining, wool rib and pocket linings of your leather jacket. If these are made of good quality materials, then you should be OK – my Aero, lined in cotton drill, was fine, but if in doubt check with the maker. If these materials do shrink then your jacket will get distorted and may get into strange shapes you do not want. And while I’m thinking abut this, this process I think is only for heavy duty leathers, like horsehide, cowhide and goatskin (why does a goat have a skin rather than a hide?). If you do this with a delicate lambskin, for example, I think you will be heading for trouble.
So the jacket soaked for half an hour in a bucket of rainwater. The next stage was to wear the jacket. As it is now dripping wet, I needed to dry it off a bit. I turned it inside out, and used an old towel to take out as much of the moisture in the lining and leather as I could. I noticed that dye in the leather transfered itself a little onto the towel and any other surface it came into contact with.
Next I put the jacket on and wore it for as long as I could. This was when the stretching and creasing took place. The jacket took on the shape of my body and developed great creasing. I made sure I sat in a chair to develop creasing in the back of the jacket (if you do this don’t forget the colour may transfer onto the furniture).
If you do this and get bored or cold wearing a wet leather jacket don’t hang it up on a hook or hanger – the weight of the damp jacket will stretch it over the hook or hanger – you may end up will odd lump and bumps in the jacket you don’t want, and the jacket may look like it’s still got the hanger in it, even when you are wearing it. When you are not wearing it, lie it flat. As it dries horsehide sort of ‘sets’ in the shape it was when wet. This is an opportunity to mould parts of it to the shape you want, perhaps the collar. The more you handle the jacket the better, seams will begin to show more, and the moulding process will work better.
The jacket took 24 to 48 hours to dry, and if you do this drying time will depend on how much you wear it. Under no circumstances let it near any source of heat other than your own body. This could lead to dry, stiff leather.
So, I recommend you DO try this at home. My jacket has come out of it with great creasing and grain development and fits me better, and the leather is much softer than it was before. Maybe the magic of rainwater?
Here is my recently bought Aero jacket in their standard brown horsehide, before and after my quick breaking in process.
No, I don't know why these pictures are so small.
I thought about the things that create patina in old heavy leather utility jackets and reckon the main factors to be:
• Creasing and stretching around the body
• Abrasion
• Polishing
• Dirt
Makers like Lost Worlds and Aero, when asked about breaking in horsehide recommend wearing the jackets in the rain. So what is it about water that ages horsehide? Well I think it causes the first effects that go to form patina, i.e. creasing and stretching. When really soaked through, horsehide becomes a little stretchy and malleable, and when dry holds the creases and shape it gets into when wet.
So my plan was to get my jacket very wet. Now I live in the UK, so we are not short of rain, but I could not see myself waiting for heavy rain, then going out for a long walk in it (how long?). Horsehide seems to be able to repel water quite well, so in any case going out in the rain is not going to have much impact, as the wetness just stays on the surface of the leather. What I needed to do was to simulate what might happen to a jacket on something like a long motorcycle ride in heavy rain. So, step one of my process was to soak the jacket in rainwater. If you want to do the same you will need to find a bucket or something that allows you to fully drown the jacket. I can’t prove this, but I think the type of water might make a difference. I used rainwater I collected in my garden in a barrel (US loungers may be amused to hear that in the UK we call this a rainwater butt).
So, I soaked my jacket for about half an hour, which seemed enough to get the leather completely wet through. Now, if you are thinking about doing this with your own jacket, you need to consider shrinkage. You know how Levi’s 501s will shrink two inches in the waist and leg when washed for the first time, even in cold water? Well, the same thing could happen to the lining, wool rib and pocket linings of your leather jacket. If these are made of good quality materials, then you should be OK – my Aero, lined in cotton drill, was fine, but if in doubt check with the maker. If these materials do shrink then your jacket will get distorted and may get into strange shapes you do not want. And while I’m thinking abut this, this process I think is only for heavy duty leathers, like horsehide, cowhide and goatskin (why does a goat have a skin rather than a hide?). If you do this with a delicate lambskin, for example, I think you will be heading for trouble.
So the jacket soaked for half an hour in a bucket of rainwater. The next stage was to wear the jacket. As it is now dripping wet, I needed to dry it off a bit. I turned it inside out, and used an old towel to take out as much of the moisture in the lining and leather as I could. I noticed that dye in the leather transfered itself a little onto the towel and any other surface it came into contact with.
Next I put the jacket on and wore it for as long as I could. This was when the stretching and creasing took place. The jacket took on the shape of my body and developed great creasing. I made sure I sat in a chair to develop creasing in the back of the jacket (if you do this don’t forget the colour may transfer onto the furniture).
If you do this and get bored or cold wearing a wet leather jacket don’t hang it up on a hook or hanger – the weight of the damp jacket will stretch it over the hook or hanger – you may end up will odd lump and bumps in the jacket you don’t want, and the jacket may look like it’s still got the hanger in it, even when you are wearing it. When you are not wearing it, lie it flat. As it dries horsehide sort of ‘sets’ in the shape it was when wet. This is an opportunity to mould parts of it to the shape you want, perhaps the collar. The more you handle the jacket the better, seams will begin to show more, and the moulding process will work better.
The jacket took 24 to 48 hours to dry, and if you do this drying time will depend on how much you wear it. Under no circumstances let it near any source of heat other than your own body. This could lead to dry, stiff leather.
So, I recommend you DO try this at home. My jacket has come out of it with great creasing and grain development and fits me better, and the leather is much softer than it was before. Maybe the magic of rainwater?
