Obenauf's LP on an RRL leather jacket

Through a series of bad decisions, I ended up with two copies of an RRL jacket that I fucking love but which is a size too big for me, so I never wore it. I finally got around to throwing a ton of Lexol and two coats of Obenauf's at it, and the results were actually kind of dramatic. The colors on the untreated jacket are more washed out and ashy in person, and most distressed/antiqued fashion leather seems to be pretty dry and in need of conditioning. It soaked up a ton of Lexol and turned a deep, awesome copper color. The Obenauf's darkened it up considerably and also made it heavier and stiffer, which seemed pretty cool for a rugged design like this. Wouldn't recommend it on soft lamb jackets, but it's pretty cool on heavier stuff. Also, a hairdryer helps a lot. Really can't emphasize that enough.

Naturally, a few days after I finished this entire process (took about a week in total, if you count proofing time), I finally found one in my size on ebay. So, uh, let me know if you want to buy these. I'll probably put them up in B&S in a bit.

Anyway, here are some comparison shots for anyone who's been curious what this looks like. Sorry for the shitty lighting; my room doesn't get great light, so it's the best I've been able to manage.

I bought the 8oz container, and that was enough. You'll go through a decent chunk of it for something as large as a jacket (especially if you're doing two coats), but the 8oz container's been enough for me to wax two jackets and four pairs of boots, and I might still have enough to get one last pair of boots out of it. It depends on the leather, though. Roughout leather absorbs a lot (kind of obvious, really), but other leathers can vary too; this jacket actually soaked up a fair bit, but a pair of Frye Brando/Rand boots took very little. Probably difference in the tanning process, but I don't really know.

Got asked for more details on what I did in a PM, but I figured I should post it here:

Basically, I sprayed Lexol on a rag (cut up tshirts) and then rubbed it in. It's actually kind of a laborious process, and the end result is kind of wet and lightly oily. I then left it to dry for a day, and after that the color just looked much richer. The oily feel was gone, but the leather didn't feel dry and light anymore. There's pretty much no downside to this stuff, as far as I can tell.

Obenauf's is another matter. I didn't use the oil; I used the Leather Preservative, which is a waxy, sticky compound that you need to either rub between your hands or melt with a hairdryer before rubbing it into the leather. This actually takes a fair amount of work and darkens the leather, leaving it sticky and matte. The instructions say you can just do it with your hands and don't need a hairdryer, but that strikes me as pretty dubious. If it's true, you need to wait for quite a while for it to proof; I went over it with a haidryer, which melts the wax on the surface and lets your rub it in much more effectively. This is also a great way to burn your hands if you're not fast (though I saw some blog post about a dude who uses Obenauf's LP to treat burns and keep his lips from getting chapped; weird), though it still takes quite a lot of time to first wax the jacket and then go over it with a hairdryer. Anyway, after that's done, it's slightly shiny and still a little sticky, but way less than before the hairdryer. After that, I let it proof for two days and then did it all over again. After proofing, it's not sticky at all and just feels heavier and sturdier than the untreated jacket.

I rewaxed a rag and bone wax cotton jacket at the same time with a can of Barbour dressing, and it's been a month and it's still a little sticky. Fucking love that thing, but I'm probably going to have to wait for it to be warmer to salvage that one and get it to proof properly.