Full Leathers need some stretching - lol (ideas?)

[Cool Runnings]

My old full leathers ain't what they used to be. They been hanging in the closet for ten years and I'm 20lbs heavier. 

They are kind of tight in the chest area too..........

What do you think about going for a swim with them on (nice hot day) and then riding until dry? 

How about rubbing in a bunch of Pecard and heat them up real good with a heat gun and then go for a ride?

Or maybe I need to just get rid of them?

[Bonafide Bob]

  Have you considered getting them altered?
Bob

[Triple Jim]

I bought a pair of Kevlar reinforced riding jeans a few years ago.  I got my usual size, 34-34, but when they arrived, they were so tight I knew they'd be about impossible to ride in.  So I found 500 calories/day I wouldn't miss much and permanently changed my eating habits.  This resulted in losing about one lb/week at first.  Now something like four years later, I'm 25 lbs lighter and a constant 175 lbs instead of 200, and the jeans fit very well.  Just an idea.

[canuguzzi]

Squats.

No easy way.

[jacksonracingcomau]

Deleted,

[Cool Runnings]

Be easy on me, I'm over 60, 6' 2" and 210 lbs. Work out 1 hour a day. 

I ain't gonna be 190 lbs just so I can fit into some leathers... 

NO, I ani't gonna quit drinking. 

Suit is size 50.

[Cool Runnings]

Squats.

No easy way.

 

[Sasquatch Jim]

  First catch a lot of neats.  Squeeze their little feet in a vise and catch the oil the drips out of them.  Release the neats to run free and grow more oil.  Rub the neats' foot oil into the leather liberally, (As opposed to conservatively )
 No political intended here.  If you can't catch any neats, catch mink and boil their blubber for the oil in it.  This means killing them but you can justify this by knowing that mink themselves are killers.  Save the skins to make your wife, girlfriend, lover, etc. a fur coat.  She can wear this mink coat while riding with you in winter.  Mink coats are very expensive on E-Bay anyway.  Enough mink to make a coat will produce enough blubber to oil your old leathers, and it will make them smell like they are indeed veteran leathers.
 Or you could buy neats' foot oil or mink oil and leave the killing of small animals to others.

[Cool Runnings]

[rocker59]

My old full leathers ain't what they used to be. They been hanging in the closet for ten years and I'm 20lbs heavier. 

They are kind of tight in the chest area too..........

What do you think about going for a swim with them on (nice hot day) and then riding until dry? 
 

Jump in the water.  Go for a ride.  Sound like a plan for a 95-degree summer day.

And, sleep in them.  They need to be worn, so they'll form to your shape.

[John Ulrich]

There was Tom the Tailor in Mpls (died) who would make an extender that zipped into your jacket.  It was a double zippered filler panel for your coat.  There is someone else advertising in the national bike mags.  Try google.

[atavar]

wetting leather and wearing it will shrink it, not stretch it.  Use oil if you want it to stretch.  Use a leather conditioner. Apply the conditioner to the leather jacket and gently knead it with your hands. This will cause the leather to expand and soften. As it softens, the leather fibers will begin to stretch. You may have to do this every day for about a week.

[Red07]

Its simply amazing how a nice set of leathers, or leather jacket, can shrink over the winter just hanging in the closet.  Not sure if it is humidity related, or just some mysterious phenomenon/force at work.

Randy

[Triple Jim]

Be easy on me, I'm over 60, 6' 2" and 210 lbs.

Well, I'm also 6' 2", but not quite 60.   

[canuguzzi]

Jump in the water.  Go for a ride.  Sound like a plan for a 95-degree summer day.

And, sleep in them.  They need to be worn, so they'll form to your shape.

Be careful, we all like to think leather breathes. While it does in some respects, if you were to sleep in them, zippers zipped and buttons buttoned, beware the unzipping and unbuttoning the next morning. Best you sleep on the couch and avoid open flames at the unveiling.

[oldbike54]

  We used to soak our baseball gloves in olive oil with a ball in the pocket and a rubber band wrapped loosely around the mitt . Not sure if this would work on a set of leathers , if not , at least it would bring some Italian flair 

  Dusty

[Penderic]

There is a Time Machine somewhere at Costco, I heard about, that could take you back in time to when they fit.
 

[Cool Runnings]

wetting leather and wearing it will shrink it, not stretch it.  Use oil if you want it to stretch.  Use a leather conditioner. Apply the conditioner to the leather jacket and gently knead it with your hands. This will cause the leather to expand and soften. As it softens, the leather fibers will begin to stretch. You may have to do this every day for about a week.

Sound like a plan. 

[Cool Runnings]

Squats.

No easy way.

Wear em to the gym and go sit in the Sauna for 1/2 hr, then ride home. 

[Cool Runnings]

Things You'll Need

Mink oil

White vinegar

2 chamois

Bucket


Mix 1/2 cup white vinegar with 1 cup mink oil. The vinegar will act as a cleansing agent, removing the dirt and grime from the leather grain. The oil will work to soften the leather to make it more pliable and supple. Leather has its own natural oil, but over time, that oil dries.


Dip a chamois into the solution and gently squeeze out the excess oil. If your chamois is dripping, you have too much.


Cover the leather with the oil and vinegar to make an even coat. First off, you want to cover every inch of the leather with oil, because this will help the color restore more evenly over the entire piece. At this point you don't need to worry about your rubbing pattern; just apply the oil.


Rub the area with your chamois in circular motions. Once the oil is applied, begin rubbing the oil into the leather. This should take about 15 minutes. You need to work the oil into the leather to affect it enough for restoration purposes.


Grab another chamois and rub the area until the excess oil is removed from the leather. The leather will still shine because a light film will still remain. You do not, however, want any pooling or dripping.



Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_4424908_restore-leather.html

[redrider]

Lestoil cleaner followed by conditioner. Mink oil works well. I have hung my garments out in the bright sun and applied the oil of Mink liberally. I have heard that some stitching reacts adversely to leather care products. I do exercise in the AM while the coffee is brewing. Dropped 20 pounds, my target. Merit Fitness Eliptical and a Vigorfit machine.

[Dukedesmo]

Its simply amazing how a nice set of leathers, or leather jacket, can shrink over the winter just hanging in the closet.  Not sure if it is humidity related, or just some mysterious phenomenon/force at work.

Randy

I've always wondered at this? In my experience they mostly shrink around the waist area - strange indeed...     

[Don G]

Another oil tread! Way to go! DonG

[Tobit]

I sold my Aerostich for the same reason.  Darn thing shrunk from lack of use. 

Fwiw, the Marquis de Sade's biography details a particularly vile method of constriction involving hide and liquid.

Seek alteration, of the suit or thyself.   

Tobit

[Cool Runnings]

I sold my Aerostich for the same reason.  Darn thing shrunk from lack of use. 

Fwiw, the Marquis de Sade's biography details a particularly vile method of constriction involving hide and liquid.

Seek alteration, of the suit or thyself.   

Tobit

Or sell it to a tall skinny kid.

[rocker59]

Be careful, we all like to think leather breathes. While it does in some respects, if you were to sleep in them, zippers zipped and buttons buttoned, beware the unzipping and unbuttoning the next morning. Best you sleep on the couch and avoid open flames at the unveiling.

I've had no adverse effects from doing this.  Yes, I've actually slept in my leathers more than one time, and for more than one reason.

No spontaneous combustion.

[rocker59]

wetting leather and wearing it will shrink it, not stretch it.   

I have not found this to be the case, and I have a closet full of motorcycle leathers.

Now, if you wet it and don't wear it, that may be a different story.

I've been rained on many times in my leathers and kept riding.  letting them air dry.  No, they didn't shrink.

Sound like a plan. 

Wet, Wear, Ride, you should see no shrinkage.

I do use Lexol products for occasional cleaning and conditioning.  Good stuff.  But, a nice set of leathers can take a lot of abuse with little care.

[oldbike54]

I've had no adverse effects from doing this.  Yes, I've actually slept in my leathers more than one time, and for more than one reason.

No spontaneous combustion.

 That would account for the bear sighting at the Okie several years back 

  Dusty

[rocker59]

That would account for the bear sighting at the Okie several years back 

  Dusty

I really didn't want to talk about that...   

[Sasquatch Jim]

The bare siting?