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Lee 101J Jacket 1946 Model - to wash or not to wash?

Dagenham Dave

One of the Regulars
Messages
229
Location
Australia
Good news!!! The COLD soak worked. :D

I soaked in the bath in COLD WATER in a bath – I soaked it for 1 hour – there was no water discolouration even after the full hour:

During SOAK.jpg

I lay it flat to dry on a clothes rack on my front porch:

Flat DRT 2.jpg

I measured it BEFORE the soak and AFTER it dried. Here are the measurements (BEFORE and AFTER):

CHEST WIDTH (FRONT): from arm-pit seam to arm-pit seam
BEFORE = 23.25”
AFTER = 23"

SLEEVE LENGTH (TOP): from shoulder seam to the end of the sleeve cuff (along top of sleeve)
BEFORE = 27.5"
AFTER = 27"

SHOULDER WIDTH (BACK): straight across the back from shoulder seam to shoulder seam
BEFORE = 20.75"
AFTER = 20.5"

JACKET LENGTH (AT BACK): from where the bottom of the collar joins the back piece of the jacket down to the bottom of the jacket
BEFORE = 24.75"
AFTER = 24.75"

Here it is before the soak:

Before SOAK.jpg

And after:

IMG_4187.jpg

The denim is not as dark or washed looking as the first one I machine washed, but that's ok. It does look darker than it looked unwashed, and at least it still fits me.

And regarding the first one that I machine washed, I gave it to my 16 y/o son and he loves it. It was still a tad too big for him even after the first warm machine wash and subsequent shrinkage. So I re-washed it in the machine in HOT water and tumble-dried it, which shrunk it even further, and it now fits him exactly as he likes to wear his jackets!

Warm regards,
Dave
 

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