Show your natural leather

[Jiaward]

@Shawnziee

 

[Shawnziee]

@Shawnziee

"Hi, I've tested a few oils on smaller parts and I think I've narrowed it down to horse oil. But I haven’t fully committed yet—I just need to build up the courage to go through with it.

@floater , your speedster turned out perfect. I think i Am going to follow your methods and see how it goes. Two quick Questions:
1. How long did it take?
2. Did it at all change the size ? did the constant water / sun combination shrink the hide?

 

[floater]

"Hi, I've tested a few oils on smaller parts and I think I've narrowed it down to horse oil. But I haven’t fully committed yet—I just need to build up the courage to go through with it.

@floater , your speedster turned out perfect. I think i Am going to follow your methods and see how it goes. Two quick Questions:
1. How long did it take?
2. Did it at all change the size ? did the constant water / sun combination shrink the hide?

Here’s the cliff notes version of what I’ve done so far in chronological order:

- 3 months of 4-6 hrs sun exposure every day when possible

- Mink oil rub in direct sunlight

- 3 more months of 3-4 hrs sun exposure every day when possible

- Left propped on a chair outside in very light drizzle and turned over, no more than 2-3 minutes tops

- Another mink oil rub in direct sunlight

- Around a week of 3-4 hrs sun exposure a day when possible

- Sprayed around 12 fl oz total or water over several coats in direct sunlight

- 2 days drying out in the shade followed by one in direct sunlight

- And another 12 fl oz total of spraying rounds in direct sunlight


So I really liked the pull-up it developed and sprayed it again yesterday with water, it was looking great, the pull-up had a mix of caramel, whiskey and cognac, here’s a pic of the back.

And here’s another pic after running my finger down the back on the lining side.

And here’s a sleeve roll update for @jchance taken this morning after drying out overnight.

Lastly, no, I can’t say that I noticed any shrinkage, it does feel tighter but I like a tight fit and can’t really attribute it to shrinkage as I’ve just remeasured it and looks about the same, if anything I think it’s a combination of the leather starting to mold into shape and being stuffed with oil and water molecules.

 

[Shawnziee]

@floater Sir, thank you for sharing the complete list of events that brought this beautiful hide to life. I started the sun exposure today and will try to take pictures and document the journey. I have to say—I’m both very excited and honestly a bit jealous of your progress!

 

[jchance]

@Shawnziee

In case you didn’t know, there have been a couple threads documenting the evolution of natural leather from the beginning:

Mister Freedom: Campus in the Raw

I treated myself to a jacket in raw hide. The smell, escaping immediately out of the box, is incredible. A pleasant surprise is that it was packed in a selvedge jean bag. Not a bad stitch or seam that I could find. Three vent holes under each arm. Initial fit pictures (an...

www.thefedoralounge.com

Iron Heart „Pale Rider“ Evolution Thread

I am taking up a suggestion and open this thread to show the natural evolution of the Iron Heart „Pale Rider“ leather shirt. While I will show the evo of my shirt in chronological order, I would love other owners to contribute as well (shouting out to @TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead and @Merv). I will...

www.thefedoralounge.com

 

[jchance]

Here’s the cliff notes version of what I’ve done so far in chronological order:

- 3 months of 4-6 hrs sun exposure every day when possible

- Mink oil rub in direct sunlight

- 3 more months of 3-4 hrs sun exposure every day when possible

- Left propped on a chair outside in very light drizzle and turned over, no more than 2-3 minutes tops

- Another mink oil rub in direct sunlight

- Around a week of 3-4 hrs sun exposure a day when possible

- Sprayed around 12 fl oz total or water over several coats in direct sunlight

- 2 days drying out in the shade followed by one in direct sunlight

- And another 12 fl oz total of spraying rounds in direct sunlight

How did you know when to condition the natural leather jacket? Did you wait until it feels dry to the touch or did you condition periodically after several months suntanning?

Also, does anyone know what causes these diagonal white stripes? Is it normal or a cause for concerns?

 

[Shawnziee]

How did you know when to condition the natural leather jacket? Did you wait until it feels dry to the touch or did you condition periodically after several months suntanning?

Also, does anyone know what causes these diagonal white stripes? Is it normal or a cause for concerns?

View attachment 717831

Those lines are normal. Correct me if I’m wrong guys but those are part of the natural grain of the leather.

 

[Tom71]

How did you know when to condition the natural leather jacket? Did you wait until it feels dry to the touch or did you condition periodically after several months suntanning?

Also, does anyone know what causes these diagonal white stripes? Is it normal or a cause for concerns?

View attachment 717831

These are stretch marks. Quite typical for horsehide. The leather Lost Worlds use has them and so does Y2’s Saddle-horse. A lot of makers try to avoid it, but personally I think it adds a ton of character.

Re conditioning: I never do unless the leather feels REALLY dry to the touch. And that usually takes years to happen.

 

[jchance]

How about these microcracks? Pictured is the upper right shoulder of the back. The leather at this area feels slightly dry to the touch, but still pretty smooth, and the surface has developed these microcracks (like soils on a piece of land have dried and cracks start appearing).



I could contrast this with under-the-arm panel that still has smooth surface and you can even zoom in to see the holes on the hide.

 

[Tom71]

How about these microcracks? Pictured is the upper right shoulder of the back. The leather at this area feels slightly dry to the touch, but still pretty smooth, and the surface has developed these microcracks (like soils on a piece of land have dried and cracks start appearing).

View attachment 718142

I could contrast this with under-the-arm panel that still has smooth surface and you can even zoom in to see the holes on the hide.

View attachment 718143

Well, micro indeed...

Nothing I see would bother me.

At the same time, if the leather FEELS dry and brittle to the touch, there´s no harm in gently conditioning such areas. Just don´t overdo it.
By the way, Ken Calder suggests using (normal) shoe polish for this exercise, and that´s what I do since he told me. Can´t think of anybody who would know better, and I embrace every opportunity to stop overthinking...

 

[Shawnziee]

I consider myself a patient man—or at least I thought I was. But this jacket is really testing me.

The first photo is from two months ago; the second is from this morning. I've been tanning it on and off during the weekends (weather permitting), using the intense summer sun here in Maryland. Still, I’m not seeing much change. It feels like it reached a kind of orange tone... and just stopped.


So here’s my question:
@floater , I know you waited four months before applying any oil or water, but would it be okay to use water now? Or should I oil it first? (I’ve got horse oil, not mink oil.)

Appreciate any advice!

 

[Shawnziee]

Thank you not just for the direction, but also for the big help—it really talked me off the edge. I was about to go all in and throw everything I had at it, haha.

I’ll stick with sun tanning for the next few months while the weather’s still hot. After that, I’ll move on to oiling, then water.

One last question: in one of your posts, you mentioned that after oiling your jacket, you “warped” it to bring out the grain more. What did you mean by that?

 

[Pandemic]

I’ve carried this natural leather card holder in my front pocket for 12 years now:

 

[floater]

Thank you not just for the direction, but also for the big help—it really talked me off the edge. I was about to go all in and throw everything I had at it, haha.

I’ll stick with sun tanning for the next few months while the weather’s still hot. After that, I’ll move on to oiling, then water.

One last question: in one of your posts, you mentioned that after oiling your jacket, you “warped” it to bring out the grain more. What did you mean by that?

I use two quick methods to break-in my jackets and get the grains popping on the ones that need it.

One involves rolling up the jacket and sitting on it over a bed or sofa/couch, not on a hard surface, then unrolling it and rolling it up again in a different orientation and sitting on it again.

Note that I only weigh around 135 lbs and I don’t apply all my weight on it and I only sit on it for a minute tops at a time, I also take care in how I roll it up in order to not damage the hw or have the hw damage or get imprinted on the leather, I usually use this method on jackets that don’t need conditioning.

The other method is giving them a mink oil rub then bunching it up after the oil has set it and tying it up overnight with a cotton terry bathrobe belt, it’ll be creased next morning but those come out without issue after wearing it or laying it flat for a couple days, this was the method I used for this jacket during its first mink oil rub and it really made the nice graining come alive as well as loosen up the jacket and how it fit.

Note that I also bunch it up and wrap it carefully to avoid any damage.

 

[Schumie]

Hi, this is a super informative thread! I have a Tenjin natural veg tan jacket since August last year. I did not like the fit at first but after some altercations by Theodoros from Thedi Leathers I’ve decided to keep it until I have a caramel brown beauty. To fasten the proces I waxed it with wax provided from Tenjin. I had some watermarks so I rubbed the jacket with a wet cloth bit this made the jacket a bit dry.

I want to condition the leather again but I am not sure about the product. Heard some good things about Pecard and Obenauff but maybe some of you can direct me in the right way. Here are some pictures of the jacket:

 

[Shawnziee]

Well I have a solution for water marks…To get rid of the water marks you could spray the entire jacket with water and then let it dry. The wax idea is interesting but are you happy with the color? I would say your jacket can age a little more and darken up before waxing (all of course personal preference) I have used horse oil before. Mustang paste is expensive and hard to find but I have been ordering horse oil from Japan which has had the same results that said I have not oil my natural leather jacket just yet still tanning it in the sun per @floater recommendation. I do have to say I am interested to see how waxing changes the color, will it fix the finish ? Keep us posted please.

 

[Mickiemac]

Here's a brief image set of my Aero Type III that I received in May of 2023.

First image is out of the box - unworn w/tag still attached. Can't say I like the jacket much other than the quality of materials and workmanship.

Second image is about a month after receiving the jacket - several sessions wearing and exposure to the sun helped transition the hide into a darker tan. Looks much better.

Third image was about a year ago - jacket has aged nicely and the character and color are coming along nicely.

I'm surprised Aero doesn't offer the Natural Vicenza for the Type III - it's certainly a perfect jacket for that color but maybe obtaining sufficient material is a factor.

For some reason the images are not in the order (based on above description) when I posted this but I am confident that viewers can discern which is new, sunbathed and current.

 

[Shawnziee]

I think the natural leather is one of the last rabbit holes everyone that is addicted to leather goods goes through lol….. I was explaining to my friend on how I do my sun tanning for the speedster and he could t believe how much time and efforts we put into this. By the way let me share some photos of the speedster I have been tanning it outside almost everyday (depending on the weather) for the past 2 months …felt a little dry so I applied horse oil under the sun like it was suggested. What a big difference it made and it has gotten so much darker.

 

[Mickiemac]

I think the natural leather is one of the last rabbit holes everyone that is addicted to leather goods goes through lol….. I was explaining to my friend on how I do my sun tanning for the speedster and he could t believe how much time and efforts we put into this. By the way let me share some photos of the speedster I have been tanning it outside almost everyday (depending on the weather) for the past 2 months …felt a little dry so I applied horse oil under the sun like it was suggested. What a big difference it made and it has gotten so much darker.

Sunbathing for jackets w/o wearing is an art - it's challenging to get even exposure to all sections (especially underarms!) but it can be done. I don't have a mannequin/form so I just lay the jacket out and turn it periodically which helps.

I do like the deep orange/brown developing on your jacket. Of course each type of hide reacts differently as does any treatment applied. I doubt my Natural Type III will achieve the hue of your jacket but from arrival to my Type III's current state, I'm pleased with it.

 

[3.14nche]

Early days but it looks like it has darkened by a shade in a month with some light rain and a bit of sun.