CBI
Well-Known Member
HWT will if anything shrink a jacket. When its wet, you can stretch it a little gain just a bit of room. The purpose of all this craziness is to create a broaken in look. For me, a "new" A-2 just does not look right. Looking at period pics, many of these guys wore the jackets hard, there is lots of wear. Of course, they were brand spanking new at first. Also, real A-2's are 60 years old so for me, a repro looks "off" without some work. However, Good Wears look damn good right out of the box and get some terrific wear almost immediately. So, the easiest way is just wear your jacket and will break it in like a sane, normal person. But, I like the fun of trying to create convincing wear and that's what the WHT is about. The downside is that the result can lead to destruction of a jacket or an artificial look. Also, if your jacket is a bit large, this is a good way to shrink it a bit to fit. Many jackets won't shrink unless you put them in a dryer and you have to be pretty careful doing that. I have been doing this for quite some time and I have never had the leather damaged. Perhaps long term, decades, there could be a difference but I am not too worried about it.
