Stretching your jacket up a size

[jeremiah]

Ha. Yeah I know the strange looks. I walk Elsa

Wearing my jackets in 80-90 degree temps and the good old boys of Mississippi who drive by in their tricked out 4x4s must be scared to mess with a man as crazy as me even though I’m 5’4”

 

[Greg Gale]

Haha @Skip , I know, I wore my G-1 with boardshorst last week in Hossegor while carrying my board from the parking lot to the shore. I actually got a compliment from a local

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Don't get the zipper tape too wet if you can possibly avoid it, some tapes shrink after a good soaking then you get the horrible crinkly teeth effect.
A couple of well known firms have obviously dyed some old Crowns and got that crinkled look when the tape shrunk, still fitted the zippers, to me they look dreadful once they've shrunk
The zipper in my A-2 shrunk a tiny bit after a heavy (unplanned) soaking, it's starting to annoy me, I might get round to changing it just for that reason...the zipper that is, not the A-2

 

[Silver Surfer]

yeah, i know the hairy eye ball look when wearing an a-2 with board shorts. been doing it for years in the spring and fall. ken makes a good point about wetting zippers. try not to. if they become really wet, they can misbehave by not seating easily when starting, and the run becomes wavy, thus difficult to zip up and down. no doubt, a lot of zippers were busted when in frustration a guy tugged the puller too hard and pulled out a tooth [teeth] or pulled the tape from the jacket, or the puller tab from the puller.

 

[zoomer]

Ha. Yeah I know the strange looks. I walk Elsa
View attachment 9728

<3 doggie

 

[Greg Gale]

I gave my ELC Star's sleeves some more pulling and stretching, then I applied a thin coat of ELC Liquid Leather in cheaper packaging (Gliptone GT11 ) on the entire jacket, then gave it some more gentle pulls, and now I'm wearing it and moving around in it.

1) It smells exactly like last year when I bought it. mmmmm
2) The sleeve length is now back to "factory settings", I got back all the lost inches! It now fits like I always wanted it to.

I'm so happy!!!

 

[Lebowski]

Greg, thanks for your experience with Glipton 11, but they strangely warn that
"Please Note: Not suitable for aniline, semi-aniline, suede or nubuck."
https://www.liquidleather.com/-c57/conditioners-c85/gt11-leather-conditioner-250ml-p157
It sounds strange isn't it?
Eastman, GW, BK etc. A-2 jackets are made of aniline and semi-aniline leathers...

 

[Greg Gale]

It does sound strange, so many people recommend Gliptone for jackets....

 

[Lebowski]

It does sound strange, so many people recommend Gliptone for jackets....

Greg, I too think it sounds quite erroneous on that linked site.
Is Gliptone GT11 really the same thing as Eastman's (and supposedly RMC's) leather conditioner?

 

[Greg Gale]

I've read that on the hat forums, several people said so. And it has the exact same smell as new ELC jackets. Strange...I checked the jacket again, no sign of damage. What kind of damage could it potentially do to aniline jackets?

 

[Lebowski]

I've read that on the hat forums, several people said so. And it has the exact same smell as new ELC jackets. Strange...I checked the jacket again, no sign of damage. What kind of damage could it potentially do to aniline jackets?

May be they supposed the aniline leather being darken after using Gliptone? No idea actually, that warning really sounds strange.

 

[Greg Gale]

First I used it on one half of one of the pocket flaps' inside. I didn't see any difference, but then again, my jacket is quite dark to begin with. Maybe @Ken at Aero Leather knows the answer why Gliptone is not recommended for aniline.

 

[Lebowski]

It really smells like Eastman's Warhorse HH when new?
Have asked you, 'cause reviews of Gliptone's smell on Amazon are quite contradictory.
Some people very like Gliptone's GT11 odour and say it smells like gorgeous old-school veg-tanned leather,
but other people strangely don't like Gliptone's smell at all and they say that Gliptone's smell doesn't remind them the odour of natural full-grain expensive good leather at all...

 

[Greg Gale]

I love it, but that's subjective.

 

[Lebowski]

I love it, but that's subjective.

Nice!
Greg, thanks a lot for sharing your experience over here, I consider this info from you is very helpful!
I've decided I should try Gliptone some time too.
Thanks again.

 

[Greg Gale]

Now I’m getting paranoid. Here is a close up of the sleeves. I think it’s pretty much the way they were before. Quite grainy though. Do you notice anything unusual?

 

[Brettafett]

More grain. A good thing.

 

[Greg Gale]

I just sent a mail to Rob along with this photo. I hope I didn't damage my jacket. It does look more grainy a bit, but that may be just paranoia. What harm can Gliptone do to aniline leather?

 

[Greg Gale]

Before (looks pretty much the same to me?) :

 

[Flightengineer]

Do not panic. Nothing bad happened with your Star.