Jacket Sun Bathing (Or sheer madness ) !!

[Persimmon]

With the lovely sunshine we are having in England at the moment what's a guy to do
instead of hot water treatments but give a few of his jackets some time in the sun instead.

Does it add wear and texture and age them I wonder ?

Am I just barking mad.

Any more crazy people out there ??

It has been said by one wag in the household that it looks as if we have German guests
over in the garden !

 

[horseback leader]

Alan,

I don't know if sunbathing your jackets has any effect, but when I read the subject line I knew you had to be the poster! You're great at breaking-in a jacket! Let us know how it turns out!

Dan

 

[better duck]

I do exactly the same, and, depending on the way the coulor to the jacket was applied, it certainly has an effect: I have GW RW 27752 and an ELC Werber, that retain the original colour under the pocket flaps and under the collar, but overall have taken on an notably lighter colour. This is, I think, both under the influence of water and direct sunlight.

It being 25 Centigrade under a blue sky right now, I'll get my jackets and put them outside again - good idea! (oh, and to answer your question: "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun". Now imagine an Englishman (or a Dutchman for that matter) going out in the midday sun to give his leather jackets a bit of sunshine ....

 

[Persimmon]

(oh, and to answer your question: "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun". Now imagine an Englishman (or a Dutchman for that matter) going out in the midday sun to give his leather jackets a bit of sunshine ....

Ah Peter. I do not even have that Mad Dogs and Englishmen excuse.
Sono Scozzeze

 

[John Lever]

Some swear by this method, I know Vic does

 

[Philalethes]

It makes sense to me that the UV rays would fade the color of the jackets over time, although I have no idea how long that would take.

Which jacket is in the middle? I like to contrast between the cuffs and the hide.

 

[Persimmon]

It makes sense to me that the UV rays would fade the color of the jackets over time, although I have no idea how long that would take.

Which jacket is in the middle? I like to contrast between the cuffs and the hide.

Aero 1938 Type A-2 Seal Horsehide

 

[better duck]

(oh, and to answer your question: "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun". Now imagine an Englishman (or a Dutchman for that matter) going out in the midday sun to give his leather jackets a bit of sunshine ....

Ah Peter. I do not even have that Mad Dogs and Englishmen excuse.
Sono Scozzeze

Well, let's say putting our jackets out in the sunshine puts us on par with the aforementioned two sunstruck categories
Here are mine, as they could be found in my garden (once again) after our previous exchange:

Sono Scozzeze

If that means you're from the dark lands north of Hadrians wall, long time ago designed to keep madmen from invading the then Roman empire: that might be some part of the explanation - and with hindsight might prove Hadrian right BTW: my brother in law is a Scotsman, and he and sis live happily in London, England.

 

[Dr H]

Plenty of SF50...

 

[better duck]

Plenty of SF50...

Scusi (to stay in tune with Persimmon)? What's that?

 

[Steve27752]

It makes sense to me that the UV rays would fade the color of the jackets over time, although I have no idea how long that would take.

Which jacket is in the middle? I like to contrast between the cuffs and the hide.

Aero 1938 Type A-2 Seal Horsehide

And the first on the left is?

 

[Roughwear]

I hope that Alan and Peter are guarding their sun drenched A2s from stray animals and light-fingered people in the vicinity. :lol:

 

[Roughwear]

It makes sense to me that the UV rays would fade the color of the jackets over time, although I have no idea how long that would take.

Which jacket is in the middle? I like to contrast between the cuffs and the hide.

Aero 1938 Type A-2 Seal Horsehide

And the first on the left is?

That will be the repro Dubow which Alan bought from Paddy last year. I notice the wristlets have been replaced.

 

[Persimmon]

[quote="Steve27752 That will be the repro Dubow which Alan bought from Paddy last year. I notice the wristlets have been replaced.

[/quote][/quote]

Yes indeed Andrew.
Well observed.
I sent off to Paddy in New Zealand for them to put on

 

[Dr H]

Plenty of SF50...

Scusi (to stay in tune with Persimmon)? What's that?

Suncream...or else the hide will end old and wrinkled before it's time... :?
Belay that order

 

[Silver Surfer]

sun bathing will not change the grain, but it will lighten the color. guaranteed. also...leaving a jac in direct hot days sunlight will shrink the jac, no bs. i have had jacs that were a tad big, and left them out for 10-15 days in the hot summer sun, and you guessed it, they became smaller. how much??? depends on the hide, and how much oil is in the hide. leave out-try on, then leave out some more if not satisfied. has it ever occured to anyone that, that is one of many reasons that wwll jacs are smaller then labeled [aside from diff sizing now then during wwll]. do be carefull 007

 

[arclight]

One more thing guys, when you do sunbathe the jackets, you might want to put old towels over any exposed lining to prevent from fading.

 

[Dr H]

Makes good sense - go easy gents.

Losing too many of the natural oils (which will be relatively volatile organic compounds) in very warm sunlight will lead to the jacket becoming gradually desiccated over time and stiff. UV radiation is also a major agent of degradation in both natural and synthetic polymers - it breaks many of the chemical bonds leading to ageing and embrittlement in some materials and loss of structural integrity in others. These hides are principally proteins after all (held together with collagen fibres) - good article here, albeit looking at slightly older (Romanian) leather (http://www.scientific.net/KEM.415.45).

One of my research topics is ageing in polymers - wouldn't want you to supply any data for a forthcoming paper...

 

[Silver Surfer]

outstanding , and infomative article, dr. tx for the link.

 

[Dr H]

You're welcome Silver Surfer - it's a well studied area with plenty of similar articles.

We use spectroscopy a great deal to examine the extent of ageing in polymers - relatively recently in a series of historical manuscripts dating back to the 1500s and also in a study of the foretopsail recovered from HMS Victory in 1805 following Trafalgar.

Best

Ian