This post might seem a little strange but bear with me. I’ve always been a fan of that aged patina leather look, be it on a belt or jacket ala Indiana Jones. I’d seen a few leather cases in the wild that had aged gracefully and in my opinion looked pretty cool. The problem I had was the saddle brown case from Apple is pretty slippery. They have a wax coating that made it almost impossible for me to use day to day.
So, I set off on a quest to artificially age my case to make it look cool but also be able to be used without slipping out of my hand.
Here’s how I did it on a saddle brown iPhone XS case.
You will need:
- Very light grit sandpaper
- Some oil, I used coco butter but you can also use something like olive oil or coconut oil Here's what I used.
- Some paper towel
- Patience...
Here’s your starting point:
As you can see very light colour and a waxy slippery finish.
First step is to take your sandpaper and get rid of some of the wax finish. I had a think about where the finish would darken over time and very lightly scratched the surface. Don’t go too deep, don’t worry about the front edges and make sure you avoid the metal buttons.
As you can see from the image above I’ve tried my best to think about where it will pick up wear and tear in natural use.
Now I have removed some of the finish I can add some colour. Take a paper towel and apply some of the oil to it. Now simply rub it into the case. Make sure you do your best to evenly coat it. Just one coat will do.
Now you need to get it to dry. I put it in my airing cupboard but you can leave it out to dry naturally. I wanted to use it quickly so let it dry next to our boiler.
After. Few hours I had a case that is now grippy, looks cool and was created by me. It’s nice to have something individual to me. I’ve never been a fan of cases but using something I helped create and is unique makes it stand out from all of the other iPhones in the wild.
Let me know how your projects go.
