Softening up leather.

[newman]

Is there any way of softening up or wearing in leather, apart from just wearing it.
Because my jacket and trousers and quite stiff, being new and also the leather is very thick.

My favorite leather jacket, not a motorbike one, took ages to wear in, and I wore it all the time.
Had it 12 years now, and it's my favorite jacket.

Just don't fall over drunk in a load of mud, It was very hard to clean..

 

[MoeMar]

try Saddle soap

 

[BusaBret]

Neatsfoot oil.

 

[lankeeyankee]

+! on the Saddle Soap.. Just did a leather coat with it. Also any autoparts store sells leather cleaner and conditioner.
Saddle Soap is going to be at places like the Co-Op and Tractor Supply if you have them in your area

 

[sixpack577]

Get it soaking wet. Wear it in the shower, get hosed down in the yard, or go for a ride in the rain.
Seriously. It'll soften up and fit better. You can use leather conditioner on it after it dries out.

 

[BusaBret]

Get it soaking wet. Wear it in the shower, get hosed down in the yard, or go for a ride in the rain.
Seriously. It'll soften up and fit better. You can use leather conditioner on it after it dries out.

This will work but wear it dry!!

 

[MoeMar]

I got soaked one day and my jacket got stiff when it dried. Who wants to wear a wet jacket till it drys.

 

[twotonevert]

It really works, I wore my new two piece suit to meet Dan one day, it rained all day, it is very soft and has been since then.

 

[mjrfd99]

Put it in the dryer W/O heat and tumble it a hour or 2.

 

[SKnight]

In all seriousness soaking leather then wearing it dry works. Did it with baseball gloves when they were new, last pair of cowboy boots ended up so nice I could wear em without socks. My leathers I treated with Lexol leather conditioner but it got really broke in when I rode in the rain. Yes it was stiff once it totally dried (It takes a very long time to totally dry, wearing until damp has been what I did.) but at that point take the saddle soap, neatsfoot oil or Lexol to it and it softens back up and is stretched and fitted to you on the inside.

I use Lexol cleaner and conditioner about once a year to maintain it.

 

[SKnight]

I want to add something before the crowd gets a chance to jump at my omission. All experience I mentioned above is with cow leather. I have no clue what kangaroo or any other type will do.

 

[sportcustoms71]

what i used to do with my baseball gloves was coat them with olive oil and through them in the oven on 250 for 30 mins, then i'd take it out wipe the excess off and the glove was good to go

 

[GNBRETT]

Get it soaking wet. Wear it in the shower.

so are you saying you like to wear leather in the shower????

my grandfather worked with leather his whole life and showed me a few tricks to softening leather jackets, pants, etc.... leather is simply skin from an animal and has some of the same properties as the human skin does and needs to be moisterized just like our own skin does. a leather jacket is no different. this is what I have done in the past:

1.) I always start out by cleaning the leather by dampening a clean cloth with water and adding saddle soap to it. I then get a sponge and rub it in all over the jacket and work it into a lather with a small circular motions. let it remain for a few minutes.

2.) dampen another clean cloth and wipe away the saddle soap immediately before it actually dries on the jacket. the last thing u want is dry soap on ur leather jacket as that would cause the leather to dry out and become cracked.... saddle soap is a cleaner NOT a conditioner!

3.) buy some leather Honey conditioner (It works best) Amazon.com: Leather Honey Leather Conditioner, the Best Leather Conditioner 8oz Bottle: Automotive and get a microfiber towel and wet the microfiber towel slightly with water and then apply the conditioner to the microfiber towel. rub in the conditioner with DEEP slow strokes to ensure it penetrates deeply.

4.) after the jacket is fully conditioned crumple it up into a ball and use ur thumbs to really penetrate the conditioner into the leather and into all the nooks and crannys.

5.) I then get a hair blow dryer and place it on MEDIUM and blow the jacket to get the leather slightly warm so the conditioner soaks into the leather easier. dont dry it out tho. just get it WARM.

6.) at this point I take two shoes and put socks around them and tie knots on the ends of the socks for each shoe. I then tie the two shoes together being about 6 inches from each other. I place the shoes and the jacket into the dryer on tumble dry with NO heat. I set it for about an hour.

7.) I repeat steps 3-5 again. you will notice a HUGE improvement in how soft the jacket is now.....

 

[newman]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[Lycan]

Get it soaking wet. Wear it in the shower, get hosed down in the yard, or go for a ride in the rain.
Seriously. It'll soften up and fit better. You can use leather conditioner on it after it dries out.

Yup Im with Sixpack...put it on stand in back yeard, get hosed down like a Circus Monkey

 

[AJAY]

Try some hand lotion from the dollar store. Works pretty well.