How to tell if shinki is teacore

[JackBroChill]

I have a pair of “avant garde” boots in Guidi leather that were originally burgundy/almost red and one day I put a couple of layers of black shoe cream and after wearing them for weeks/months the burgundy starts peeking but the effect is very subtle and the black kinda wears off but doesn’t peel. I repeat this process once per year.

I wonder if this could be done with a brown jacket and what the results would be.

I imagine a jacket might be tougher given the additional material as well as the nature of wear but this is a very interesting idea for boots!

 

[Will Zach]

You can take a Q-tip soaked with some alcohol and take a few dabs at the inside hems (inside cuff is best imo) and see what color is underneath the top coat.

Shinki has struck through leather, not tea core. But most RMC Shinki jackets I have are teacore. The only way to tell is to check it by taking a tiny bit of top coat off in the invisible spot.

Acetone will work on all topcoats; alcohol might struggle, but with hard rubbing it might work.

 

[Will Zach]

... and last word on ugly vs nice "teacore" effect from a coatings chemist: it is a balance between the cohesive and adhesive strength of the topcoat. If the former is larger, the coating will come off in patches (ugh); if the latter is larger, it will come off nice and gradual. Howgh!

 

[Edward]

If you've been wearing a jacket for a year and you're not sure if it's teacore, it's not teacore.

Same thing goes for if you wear some of them for a month....

Of course it's a subjective value judgement. When I buy a black leather jacket, I much prefer it to stay black. Brown or other hues I'm more open to seeing it vary over time. I wouldn't buy a black jacket in a teacore for that reason - though I'd love one in that black over blue goat Aero used way back when they made jackets for Levis.

 

[dudewuttheheck]

If you've been wearing a jacket for a year and you're not sure if it's teacore, it's not teacore.

Same thing goes for if you wear some of them for a month....

Of course it's a subjective value judgement. When I buy a black leather jacket, I much prefer it to stay black. Brown or other hues I'm more open to seeing it vary over time. I wouldn't buy a black jacket in a teacore for that reason - though I'd love one in that black over blue goat Aero used way back when they made jackets for Levis.

I'm the same overall. I want my black items to stay black. Teacore also makes jackets less practical to wear while driving a car. I got weird teacore on a jacket once from my seat belt and I've been traumatized ever since.

 

[Jonanah]

I don't like it at all, but, bearing in mind it also has an odd split at a shoulder-fold seam, I now wear it in the worst weathers, in places with sharp objects, in the company of women I don't care for and low-light environments where no-one can see my shame.

Beautifully put lmao this cracked me up

 

[Aloysius]

Shinki does teacore better than most IME, but I still prefer something that ages very slowly. Struck through is more pleasant in my opinion.

I agree for the thicker topcoat version used by RMC, Greg, and a few others but slight caveat, in that Shinki makes that horrible extra-fast fading custom hide for Freewheelers that chips off while you're trying it on. The existence of that product annoys me lol.

 

[DogFacePonySoldier]

I too got mixed feelings with made to teacore. My shinki boots are taking along time to break on through.
Fjorde discussed how his Shinki leather jacket is staying black after years of wear.

 

[Aloysius]

Fjorde discussed how his Shinki leather jacket is staying black after years of wear.

Isn’t this the Aliexpress sponsored influencer guy?

I expect in a year any one of his jackets gets ten minutes of wear.

 

[BloodEagle]

God please no, not Fjorde

 

[JackBroChill]

God please no, not Fjorde

People really don’t like that guy around here do they lol

 

[dudewuttheheck]

People really don’t like that guy around here do they lol

Nobody should. He's a shill and is incorrect about almost everything.