{"id":2937,"date":"2019-12-18T19:38:38","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T19:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/how-to-distress-leather\/"},"modified":"2025-06-30T19:13:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T19:13:34","slug":"how-to-distress-leather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/leather-blog\/how-to-distress-leather\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Distress Leather"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The distressed fashion trend has made a comeback in recent years, and the biggest celebrities, models, and influencers are rocking ripped clothing on an everyday basis. In fact, people are paying hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on pre-distressed clothing in an efforft to keep up with the hottest fashion trend. If you can\u2019t justify spending your hard-earned money on clothing that has been ripped and distressed prior to your purchase, we don\u2019t blame you, and we have a solution \u2013 doing it yourself! Here\u2019s how to age leather and make it look rugged and worn out without the time commitment!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-831\" src=\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/distressed-leather.jpg\" alt=\"distressed leather jacket\" width=\"724\" height=\"483\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Why Distressing Your Leather Is Worth It<\/h2>\n<p>Before you gather your materials and start going in on your leather clothing item, it\u2019s important first to establish why you\u2019re taking the time to distress leather in the first place. Unlike other fad fashion pieces, like jeans and shirts with a million massive holes in them, distressed leather is actually a trend that has stood the test of time and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Distressed leather jackets, in particular, have become a long-lasting fashion trend that has been adopted by virtually every generation and become a symbol of the transition into becoming a young adult. Distressed leather also tells a story, and the vintage look of worn down leather can elevate the appearance of any outfit you pair with it!<\/p>\n<h2>How to Distress Leather Clothing Items<\/h2>\n<p>To speed up the wear and tear process on your leather clothing item, you\u2019ll first need to arm yourself with the proper tools to do so. Here\u2019s everything you need to have handy to weather leather successfully:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0 A bottle of 90% rubbing alcohol<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0 Sandpaper<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0 A heavy bristled brush<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0 Rubber gloves<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0 Shoe polish<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0 Shoe wax<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Step 1 \u2013 Apply Rubbing Alcohol<\/h2>\n<p>The first step to getting your leather looking like it\u2019s been around for many years is applying rubbing alcohol to it. Fill a spray bottle with 90% rubbing alcohol and lightly mist the leather with it. This will dampen the leather and make it more likely to take to distressing techniques. Be careful not to soak your leather item thoroughly \u2013 it should feel slightly damp to the touch.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-833\" src=\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/rubbing-alcohol.jpg\" alt=\"spray bottle of rubbing alcohol\" width=\"724\" height=\"483\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Step 2 \u2013 Rough Your Leather Up<\/h2>\n<p>Once your leather is sufficiently damp with rubbing alcohol, it\u2019s time for the fun part \u2013 beating it up! Let out any pent up anger you may have and knead, crease, and crumple your leather item. This will give it the well-worn lines and folds that are telltale signs of leather that\u2019s endured some wear and tear.<\/p>\n<h2>Step 3 \u2013 Use Sandpaper to Scratch the Leather<\/h2>\n<p>Next, take out some sandpaper and use it on areas that typically get worn out first (edges, seams, bottoms, corners, etc.). This will give your leather a much more authentic aged look.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-834\" src=\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/sandpaper.jpg\" alt=\"sandpaper\" width=\"724\" height=\"483\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Step 4 \u2013 Give Your Leather Another Go Over With a Bristled Brush<\/h2>\n<p>To give your leather an extra worn-out look, take out a heavy bristled brush and use it the same way you did the sandpaper. Move the brush in different directions to create permanent scuffs and scars on the material. The emphasis of the wear and tear on susceptible areas is well worth the extra step!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-832\" src=\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/bristle-brush.jpg\" alt=\"bristled brush\" width=\"726\" height=\"481\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Step 5 \u2013 Seal Your Work With Shoe Wax<\/h2>\n<p>When your leather looks sufficiently worn out, and the rubbing alcohol has dried, it is time to seal its weathered surface with shoe wax. Use a cloth or toothbrush to spread the shoe wax over the leather\u2019s outer layer and add an extra bit of protection. Work in the wax as much as you can and wipe off any excess.<\/p>\n<h3>Conclusion<\/h3>\n<p>That\u2019s all she wrote! By trying out these five steps on &#8220;how to make leather look old&#8221;, you can make it look like it\u2019s been around for at least a decade. And if you end accidentally distressing your leather past the point of recognition, <a href=\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/\">Love Your Leather<\/a> can help repair and restore it.<\/p>\n<p>At Love Your Leather, we\u2019ve been providing <a href=\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/leather-repair\/\">leather repair<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/services\/\">leather restoration<\/a> services to Torontonians since 1987. We\u2019re so confident in our work that we offer all our customers a <a href=\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/guarantee\/\">100% money-back guarantee<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/contact\">Contact us<\/a> today to get a <a href=\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/leather-quotes\/\">free quote<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The distressed fashion trend has made a comeback in recent years, and the biggest celebrities, models, and influencers are rocking ripped clothing on an everyday basis. In fact, people are paying hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on pre-distressed clothing in an efforft to keep up with the hottest fashion trend. If you can\u2019t justify spending [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leather-care"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Distress Leather<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to distress leather for a vintage, worn-in look. Follow our expert tips and techniques to achieve the perfect distressed leather finish.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/leather-blog\/how-to-distress-leather\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Distress Leather\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how to distress leather for a vintage, worn-in look. Follow our expert tips and techniques to achieve the perfect distressed leather finish.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/leather-blog\/how-to-distress-leather\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Love Your Leather\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-18T19:38:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-30T19:13:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/distressed-leather.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"724\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Love Your Leather Blog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Love Your Leather Blog\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/leather-blog\/how-to-distress-leather\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/leather-blog\/how-to-distress-leather\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Love Your Leather Blog\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/#\/schema\/person\/d20a7614673669e327cb01d500e8ffd9\"},\"headline\":\"How to Distress Leather\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-18T19:38:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-30T19:13:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/leather-blog\/how-to-distress-leather\/\"},\"wordCount\":707,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/leather-blog\/how-to-distress-leather\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/distressed-leather.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Leather Care\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/leather-blog\/how-to-distress-leather\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/leather-blog\/how-to-distress-leather\/\",\"name\":\"How to Distress Leather\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/leather-blog\/how-to-distress-leather\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/leather-blog\/how-to-distress-leather\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.wisevu.com\/lyl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/distressed-leather.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-18T19:38:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-30T19:13:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn how to distress leather for a vintage, worn-in look. 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