How to shrink leather?

grnamin

grnamin

Joined
Oct 6, 1998
Messages
2,269
I have a leather pouch for a folder that I need to shrink in order for the folder to fit more snugly. How do I shrink the leather? Do I wet it then heat it with a blow drier or heat gun? Thanks in advance.
 
Greg-
I would advise against trying to shrink the leather.
Is the sheath a commercial one? Does it have a finish on it? If so what?
With those questions answered I can give you a more complete answer - such as should you "strip" the finish before dampening, etc.

What I would advise as the best course of action is to DAMPEN the sheath (not soaking wet - just damp enough to be moldable - if it's too wet it won't hold the molding but will be mushy). The best way to dampen is to dunk the sheath in a bowl of warm water for a minute or so and then stick it in a plastic bag for a couple of hours. Once it's at the right consistency you remold the sheath around the knife (oil the knife well and wrap in saran wrap to prevent rust) using some sort of modeling tool(s). The procedure is known as hand boning in the leather trade since the workers originally used modeling tools made from smoothed bone in various shapes and sizes.

After the sheath is reformed around the knife you then dry it but I would not use a heat gun as they are too hot - a hair dryer on low is plenty hot enough and even then you need to be careful that you don't dry it so fast/hot that it will ruin the leather.

Hope this helps and if you need any further clarification ask away.
 
Thanks, Wild Rose. The leather pouch is the one that comes with the Leatherman Wave. I'm trying to shrink it to fit a Leatherman Pulse.
 
Greg-
I would clean the outside good with denatured alcohol and then follow my isntructions above.
 
I don't think you can get better advice.

I can tell you that leather shrinks with time. I have a pair of leather pants, 32 inch waist. I bought them in 1967. I ran across them a year or so ago and just for fun tried them on. They had shrunk (is that a word) so much I couldn't get them snapped.:mad: :eek: :o
 
Peter-
I have some leather pants that did the same - thing must have been that getting caught out in the rain once too often. :D
 
I have that problem every now and then and I really don't think water or shrinkage has any thing to do with it. Have you ever thought that what you are trying to put into the pants keeps getting bigger.
Gib
 
Gib....I don't know how to answer that. My wife says in no uncertain terms that I have not and will never grow up. When I was 14 and skatboarding was almost unknown (metal wheels, etc) I made a skateboard and took it down the road from Reddish knob. It is about 5 miles of narrow mountain road. I collected a lot of road rash on the way down.

When I turned 60, I took the same route using a mountain bike. I collected a lot of road rash on the way down.

When I look in the mirror, I see a 14 year old. My waist size hasn't changed at all!:D
 
Originally posted by peter nap
I don't think you can get better advice.

I can tell you that leather shrinks with time. I have a pair of leather pants, 32 inch waist. I bought them in 1967. I ran across them a year or so ago and just for fun tried them on. They had shrunk (is that a word) so much I couldn't get them snapped.:mad: :eek: :o
Click to expand...


It's strange, but I had a number of cotton jeans shrink like that last year.
Been shrinking myself all summer to compensate, and wear them this winter. :eek: ;)
 
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