Hey guys,
before I start… please notice that I have never done a turtorial and my knowledge is very rudimentary compared to the pros in here. And english is not my native language. So please don‘t punch directly onto the liver! I just want to share the lessons I learned, so other newbies can avoid my mistakes.
My Goal: Create a heavy used (dull, beaten up and faded color) vintage diver strap for a “beaten to shit” milsub 5517 build.
DIY - Here is what I did:
Step 1 – Get the right straps and unbrand them.
I was doing some research on the straps and colors that were issued with the 5517 etc. milsubs. Now for what I read (please correct me), the mayor strap colors issued were „admiralty grey“ and „british military green“. Comparing the hardware and colors to the originals, my budget decided to get two „Combat NATO by ZULUDIVER“ straps from Watchgecko in the UK. No advertising, but they are cheap, sturdy, the hardware looks similar and you can get one free strap. So wtf! I bought one in „admiralty grey“ and one „military green“.
View attachment 90594
Out of the box they were very dark and intensively colored, had a shiny seat belt like surface and were very stiff. As first step I unbranded the straps by cutting out the name tag with a scalpel and removed the laser stamp on the buckle with a nail polisher.
Step 2 – Give acid and alkaline bath to break open the fabric.
My first lesson is that soaking the straps in bleach for an hour and staring at them does nothing. Those straps have a very good color sealant applied. Due to not knowing which chemicals the factory used, I gave them both, an alkaline (baking powder + water)
View attachment 90585
and acid (20% acid viniger extract) bath for each 60 minutes. (Edit: After each step I rinsed the straps in cold water and dry them in a kitchen towel, to remove the latest chemical.)
View attachment 90586
Effect: Color sealant hopefully broken, fabric is softer and the glossy sheen of the fabric went more dull. Color effect - zero.
Lessons learned: Break sealant before bleaching. - Make sure to use throw away gloves. Don’t wear a Ralph Lauren sweater!
Step 3 – Soak in bleach while constantly observing (and stop at 50% desired effect / wet = dark).
Now after rinsing them in cold water I soaked the straps in bleach. Add more bleaching at the end and less at the buckle area, to get a fading effect. The less effect you want, the more water apply to the bleach, directly onto the strap.
View attachment 90593
Due to my first disappointing hour I left them in the bleach for 45 minutes, before I took the first look. Nothing happened. Five minutes later, the green strap suddenly was coyote tan coloured (%&$§!X). They grey didn’t change at all (%&$§!X). This is the first result:
View attachment 90589
I washed them and let them dry over night. Next morning the green one was even worse. The color completely dissolved and it turned yellow/golden. But at least the grey one looked really cool and ghostly bleeded out. I gave it some brighter areas by applying bleach with a q-tip at the end, borders and where I wanted it to get more wearing. To speed up the process I put the strap into sunlight and let it go for 60 more minutes (thanks to hack from @NCRich).
Lessons learned: The bleaching effect can come very quick all of a sudden. - The chemical process keeps on working after exiting the bath and even after washing. - Wet fabric looks darker than it really is in dry condition (so exit when it still looks too dark). Open a window when messing with chemicals or do it when your wife isn’t home. - Bleach doesn’t dissolve modern industrial blue color to green (like saltwater / acid does in 20 years), but more into purple.
Step 4 – Wear and tear. (Banzai!)
Now this is when the fun starts. Give your straps a good ride. I worked them with a nail polishing file and a rough cotton cloth. Any rough surfaces would work. Slip the strap over your fingertip for controlled filing action.
View attachment 90631
The more you abuse the hardware and fabric, the more beaten it looks (nobrainer). The less abrasive your tool is (rubbing, bending and pulling it inside a cotton kitchen towel), the more you can change the fabric from a shiny nylon look, to an old cotton/mix surface look. Work on the fabric while still a bit wet and give the hardware some gentle scratches with the file.
To make it look really beaten up, my magic trick was letting my dog play with the straps for an hour. The effect is like 25 years comex + deepsea challange!
Lesson learned: Don’t file too hard on the sewing or the stitching dissolves. If it got too roughed up, one shot with a lighter and it melts back together.
Step 5 - Re-tanning the golden strap
As I said, the green strap was supposed to look like 25 years salt water bleeded BMG. What I had in mind was a khaki with a faded greenish touch. So there had to be some re-tanning. Due to a lot of research in my childhood on permanent coloring the knees of my pants to green, the material of choice was: “grass”. Nu bull. I went out in the garden to harvest some nice green grass, made a paste of it and colored the strap green. It went so well, that I had to wash the strap in the washing machine, to get it brighter and less frog toned again.
View attachment 90600
Lessons learned: Momma was right. Grass stains are evil. - Wash both straps well before wearing to get rid of the chemicals.
Long talk, little contend. This is what you finally get:
View attachment 90595
View attachment 90596
View attachment 90597
Thanks for reading and good luck with your vintage natos!
Yours,
Jaques
before I start… please notice that I have never done a turtorial and my knowledge is very rudimentary compared to the pros in here. And english is not my native language. So please don‘t punch directly onto the liver! I just want to share the lessons I learned, so other newbies can avoid my mistakes.
My Goal: Create a heavy used (dull, beaten up and faded color) vintage diver strap for a “beaten to shit” milsub 5517 build.
DIY - Here is what I did:
Step 1 – Get the right straps and unbrand them.
I was doing some research on the straps and colors that were issued with the 5517 etc. milsubs. Now for what I read (please correct me), the mayor strap colors issued were „admiralty grey“ and „british military green“. Comparing the hardware and colors to the originals, my budget decided to get two „Combat NATO by ZULUDIVER“ straps from Watchgecko in the UK. No advertising, but they are cheap, sturdy, the hardware looks similar and you can get one free strap. So wtf! I bought one in „admiralty grey“ and one „military green“.
View attachment 90594
Out of the box they were very dark and intensively colored, had a shiny seat belt like surface and were very stiff. As first step I unbranded the straps by cutting out the name tag with a scalpel and removed the laser stamp on the buckle with a nail polisher.
Step 2 – Give acid and alkaline bath to break open the fabric.
My first lesson is that soaking the straps in bleach for an hour and staring at them does nothing. Those straps have a very good color sealant applied. Due to not knowing which chemicals the factory used, I gave them both, an alkaline (baking powder + water)
View attachment 90585
and acid (20% acid viniger extract) bath for each 60 minutes. (Edit: After each step I rinsed the straps in cold water and dry them in a kitchen towel, to remove the latest chemical.)
View attachment 90586
Effect: Color sealant hopefully broken, fabric is softer and the glossy sheen of the fabric went more dull. Color effect - zero.
Lessons learned: Break sealant before bleaching. - Make sure to use throw away gloves. Don’t wear a Ralph Lauren sweater!
Step 3 – Soak in bleach while constantly observing (and stop at 50% desired effect / wet = dark).
Now after rinsing them in cold water I soaked the straps in bleach. Add more bleaching at the end and less at the buckle area, to get a fading effect. The less effect you want, the more water apply to the bleach, directly onto the strap.
View attachment 90593
Due to my first disappointing hour I left them in the bleach for 45 minutes, before I took the first look. Nothing happened. Five minutes later, the green strap suddenly was coyote tan coloured (%&$§!X). They grey didn’t change at all (%&$§!X). This is the first result:
View attachment 90589
I washed them and let them dry over night. Next morning the green one was even worse. The color completely dissolved and it turned yellow/golden. But at least the grey one looked really cool and ghostly bleeded out. I gave it some brighter areas by applying bleach with a q-tip at the end, borders and where I wanted it to get more wearing. To speed up the process I put the strap into sunlight and let it go for 60 more minutes (thanks to hack from @NCRich).
Lessons learned: The bleaching effect can come very quick all of a sudden. - The chemical process keeps on working after exiting the bath and even after washing. - Wet fabric looks darker than it really is in dry condition (so exit when it still looks too dark). Open a window when messing with chemicals or do it when your wife isn’t home. - Bleach doesn’t dissolve modern industrial blue color to green (like saltwater / acid does in 20 years), but more into purple.
Step 4 – Wear and tear. (Banzai!)
Now this is when the fun starts. Give your straps a good ride. I worked them with a nail polishing file and a rough cotton cloth. Any rough surfaces would work. Slip the strap over your fingertip for controlled filing action.
View attachment 90631
The more you abuse the hardware and fabric, the more beaten it looks (nobrainer). The less abrasive your tool is (rubbing, bending and pulling it inside a cotton kitchen towel), the more you can change the fabric from a shiny nylon look, to an old cotton/mix surface look. Work on the fabric while still a bit wet and give the hardware some gentle scratches with the file.
To make it look really beaten up, my magic trick was letting my dog play with the straps for an hour. The effect is like 25 years comex + deepsea challange!
Lesson learned: Don’t file too hard on the sewing or the stitching dissolves. If it got too roughed up, one shot with a lighter and it melts back together.
Step 5 - Re-tanning the golden strap
As I said, the green strap was supposed to look like 25 years salt water bleeded BMG. What I had in mind was a khaki with a faded greenish touch. So there had to be some re-tanning. Due to a lot of research in my childhood on permanent coloring the knees of my pants to green, the material of choice was: “grass”. Nu bull. I went out in the garden to harvest some nice green grass, made a paste of it and colored the strap green. It went so well, that I had to wash the strap in the washing machine, to get it brighter and less frog toned again.
View attachment 90600
Lessons learned: Momma was right. Grass stains are evil. - Wash both straps well before wearing to get rid of the chemicals.
Long talk, little contend. This is what you finally get:
View attachment 90595
View attachment 90596
View attachment 90597
Thanks for reading and good luck with your vintage natos!
Yours,
Jaques
arty: Would love to see the results! 