I got a really nice strap from Elliot's Big Balls #4, but it was not as nice as the Il Mupetto I got before it and Hari has graciously chosen me as his second for the black shark, so I will be getting a pure black strap. The Oreo black/white was nice, but while photographing it, I had so much flat light on it it turned grey in one photo and that made me sit up and want a grey and white strap.
So, arming myself with Enzo's excellent distressing article, I decided to lighten my strap and age it a little as well. Off came the black t-shirt and on went a skanky white one, as Mrs Pugwash told me no matter how careful one is with bleach, you will get it on your shirt.
You'll have to excuse the picture quality as my kitchen isn't set up for photography.
Colour check. Both black.
In it goes, pure bleach and a strap. The spoon is to keep the strap submerged.
Only the finest straps used here, which proved quite annoying as the waterproofing meant it took a considerable amount of time to get to the leather. Good work from Toscana, though. Hats off.
See? It's getting lighter. Nowhere near light enough, says he not realising that being damp makes it hugely dark. I took it out and washed off the slime every 5-10 minutes.
Ooh, brown. No! I wanted black/grey! Note the shitty strap that comes with the watch being added as we were already an hour in and nothing was happening, or so I thought.
The shitty strap turned brown and paintless in minutes.
That'll do. Lets compare it, dry it and go to bed. Leave the Oreo to dry and soak the shitty strap in salt water just to see what happens.
Next morning, this is what they looked like. Holy crap, that's almost white! What have I done!
Look at how light it is! That's the original keeper, as I remove the seconds on my straps. Ok, let's be honest, it's not looking bad.
Some people say Mink Oil is excellent, but Macadamia is apparently what the experts say ... um, I have in my fridge. Seriously, Macadamia is like Mink Plus, and Mrs Pugwash, who is well on her way to being a professional aromatherapy masseuse, has a huge variety of exotic oils. She had a large bottle of Minkadamia, thankfully.
Both straps being oiled. They'll lighten up after this, but that oil really does do the job.
The final Toscana Oreo Plus on The Legend.
I hate to say it, but this could have gone wrong so many times, but just didn't. I'm very happy with my result. I'll show you what happens to the shitty strap, which is looking good, oiled and sanded ...
Thanks to Enzo for inspiring me, and thanks to Big E for selling me a decent bit of leather cheap.
So, arming myself with Enzo's excellent distressing article, I decided to lighten my strap and age it a little as well. Off came the black t-shirt and on went a skanky white one, as Mrs Pugwash told me no matter how careful one is with bleach, you will get it on your shirt.
You'll have to excuse the picture quality as my kitchen isn't set up for photography.
Colour check. Both black.
In it goes, pure bleach and a strap. The spoon is to keep the strap submerged.
Only the finest straps used here, which proved quite annoying as the waterproofing meant it took a considerable amount of time to get to the leather. Good work from Toscana, though. Hats off.
See? It's getting lighter. Nowhere near light enough, says he not realising that being damp makes it hugely dark. I took it out and washed off the slime every 5-10 minutes.
Ooh, brown. No! I wanted black/grey! Note the shitty strap that comes with the watch being added as we were already an hour in and nothing was happening, or so I thought.
The shitty strap turned brown and paintless in minutes.
That'll do. Lets compare it, dry it and go to bed. Leave the Oreo to dry and soak the shitty strap in salt water just to see what happens.
Next morning, this is what they looked like. Holy crap, that's almost white! What have I done!
Look at how light it is! That's the original keeper, as I remove the seconds on my straps. Ok, let's be honest, it's not looking bad.
Some people say Mink Oil is excellent, but Macadamia is apparently what the experts say ... um, I have in my fridge. Seriously, Macadamia is like Mink Plus, and Mrs Pugwash, who is well on her way to being a professional aromatherapy masseuse, has a huge variety of exotic oils. She had a large bottle of Minkadamia, thankfully.
Both straps being oiled. They'll lighten up after this, but that oil really does do the job.
The final Toscana Oreo Plus on The Legend.
I hate to say it, but this could have gone wrong so many times, but just didn't. I'm very happy with my result. I'll show you what happens to the shitty strap, which is looking good, oiled and sanded ...
Thanks to Enzo for inspiring me, and thanks to Big E for selling me a decent bit of leather cheap.
