distressing leather jacket

[CFDOC]

I was trying to "distress" a leather jacket I had purchased. I tried copious amounts 92% alcohol, nail polish remover and while both were able to remove black dye the leather remains black despite this. I tried sandpapering it and all I'm left with is a blue colored roughened leather. The last time I had done this, the dye came out really easily with a small amount of 70% alcohol and the color ended up being light brown or white if I overdid it. Should I be concerned that this isn't leather? It smells, feels, looks like leather. Thanks!

 

[rocketeer]

There is only one sure method to make a new jacket look 50 years old, and that is to wear it for 50 years

 

[jacketjunkie]

Leather can be dyed through, then it's black all the way through, no matter how much of the top coat you rub off.

 

[John Lever]

Get a block of solid hard paraffin wax the same as candles are made from. Find some old newspaper with plenty of dark print but no colour photographs. Screw the paper into a ball and rub really hard onto the wax block then rub the jacket starting on the arms where there are creases. The newspaper will leave wax on the leather as it disintitrates to produce areas of shine but not a constant gloss. This causes subtle colour changes. The print will rub off on the high areas also causing colour variations. If you are brave try staining with tea or coffee (no sugar).
Vigorous hand rubbing can also help.

 

[Sockeye]

Am I he only one who is cringing at the idea of doing this?

 

[Gromulus]

Just wear the darn thing.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Your jacket was obviously only surface dyed or had an artificial layer applied. The blue is from the chrome tanning. Doesn't sound like it's a particularly good quality leather. You could try coloring the blue areas with a leather dye.

 

[L'Onset]

Am I he only one who is cringing at the idea of doing this?

I'm with you...

 

[HoosierDaddy]

It's true. Some leather has a lighter base coat that can be revealed by various artificial means. Other leathers are dyed completely through the leather and much easier to ruin the top finish with vigorous attempts to find a different color base coat that just isn't there. The first step is to identify the type of leather that you are working with when seeking a weathered look to avoid disaster. Repairing areas that have been sanded down leaving a suede-like outcome is then impossible to recover, as far as I am aware.
HD

 

[John Lever]

Never sand anything to make it look worn. Worn leather looks burnished.

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Never sand anything to make it look worn. Worn leather looks burnished.

Agreed, and if you do, use extremely fine like autobody 400 grit with water, that'll give you the burnished look. Would like to see a snapshot of what you've done so far, might have some suggestions.

 

[CBI]

probably less than ideal leather quality, may not be much you can do.

 

[CFDOC]

thanks for the replies. My intent on asking was really to clarify if it was leather (I never heard of blue leather) and if so, would it age well like my other jackets. On closer inspection, it looks like there are areas of wear that are brown (not blue) in color. And the jacket in question is probably at least 30 years old judging by the look of the zippers (the main pull is a large 1970s Talon) but it wasn't worn much by the previous owner.

 

[pawineguy]

Yes, Chrome tanned leather starts out as blue before it is dyed. That in itself actually shows that is is leather.

 

[Steve S.]

Agreed, and if you do, use extremely fine like autobody 400 grit with water, that'll give you the burnished look. Would like to see a snapshot of what you've done so far, might have some suggestions.

I would even start finer & work up to the 400 grit if needed. I recently replaced a couple panels in a 55j14 G-1 & started out with 2000 grit. the finer the paper, the less chance of leaving visible sanding scratches on the hide.

 

[John Lever]

About 15 years ago Aero made some jackets for Levis. They were black but when distressed with a rotating wire brush they showed a blue black colour and are collectable.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I was trying to "distress" a leather jacket I had purchased. I tried copious amounts 92% alcohol, nail polish remover and while both were able to remove black dye the leather remains black despite this. I tried sandpapering it and all I'm left with is a blue colored roughened leather. The last time I had done this, the dye came out really easily with a small amount of 70% alcohol and the color ended up being light brown or white if I overdid it. Should I be concerned that this isn't leather? It smells, feels, looks like leather. Thanks!

What you are trying to achieve? To distress a jacket means many things - from the people who want to copy an Indy Jones, clapped out jacket look, to those who simply want the jacket to appear worn in - less new and embarrassing. Usually washing a jacket in a machine with some detergent a couple of times and then wearing it as it dries makes it look like it's worn in and older. It won't damage or shrink the jacket. I've certainly washed a dozen jackets in this way and there has never been shrinkage. Just never dry the jacket near a heat source - that includes central heating.

 

[navetsea]

it is chrome tanned black all the way, impossible to bleed the dye out with alcohol, you may try hanging it out in the sun, maybe put it on a mannequin or some padded wireframe to emulate somebody wearing it, bend the arm a little so it forms creases and the sun fading look more natural, since you have applied many stuff on it, it couldn't hurt more.

 

[CFDOC]

Well I wasn't really trying to make it look very distressed, was more curious to see how it would look if it aged; I actually may end up letting it soak in the sun. I posted images of the jacket in another thread. I think it may be a Beck jacket.

 

[morrison2951]

Nothing will ever look as good as just wearing the jacket- you can't fake the funk on a nasty dunk! Ha ha