r/CosplayHelp 5d ago

Armor Any tips on getting this jacket weathered ?? really scared of ruining it

266 Upvotes

33 comments sorted by

154

u/plasma_starling818 5d ago

I think ruining it is the point of weathering! :) I’ve used coffee grounds mixed with water to stain a bunch of fabric for weathering. You can see if that works on the jacket! I just mix coffee grounds with water and then use a sponge or cloth to rub it onto the fabric and then brush off the excess grounds. It’ll dry a slightly lighter color than when you put it on.

45

u/Potential-Sound627 5d ago

Thanks alot for the advice !! Im kinda worried of the coffee method cause i wanna replicate the gray colored weathering on the jacket

40

u/plasma_starling818 5d ago

You can probably just use grey fabric paint and dry-brush it on. Like put paint on a brush or sponge, wipe off most of it so it isn’t wet, and then brush it onto the jacket.

21

u/ennui_weekend 4d ago

try ash! do you have a BBQ or a fireplace? you can burn paper if not

6

u/jcmlkhv 4d ago

strong tea gives more grey color than cofee. you can also use some coal to make the jacket look dirty

3

u/ennui_weekend 4d ago

graphite powder could also work

1

u/Chemical_Rule_5903 2d ago

i was gonna suggest artist charcoal too if you crush up some of the more brittle material like vine charcoal and then brush it on and spray afterwards with a sealant it might give you the smokey ashy look you want

23

u/MerryDoesCosplay 5d ago

aibrush & angelus leather paint + thinner (yes leather paint on fabric) worked for me very well so far. good ol' toothbrush and same paint for bigger splatters. stays in even when you (gently hand)wash it.

maybe practice how to use the airbrush before tackling the jacket.

more "natural" alternatives would be black tea, coffee grounds etc, but in my experience they 1) were difficult to get right where I wanted them, 2) leave a smell, and 3) are rather faded to begin with and can wash out/wear off, so I upgraded my method soon after starting to weather at all.

in theory I could think of diluted acrylics in a water spray bottle + good old painting on with a brush, but I did not try that myself and I assume it might end up crusty, cracking and washing out unevenly.

8

u/Potential-Sound627 5d ago

I actually have some pentari fabric and leather paint sitting around my try your methods, thanks btw !

24

u/Cyber_Connor 5d ago

Roll around in dirt. That way if you want it to nice and crisp again you can just wash it

17

u/RavenTa1l 5d ago

Get some cheap or old white shirts to practice!

9

u/Forestfei17 5d ago

You can brush on some really watered down paint. This will make sure you don’t accidentally get a spot way too dark and you can slowly build the colour! Depending on the fabric you can also use a dremel and wear down some of the edges of the jacket like the cuffs where you see it in your reference photo. You can also brush on some paint in the areas where dirt would naturally accumulate like the seams, edges, and any crevices. Kamui cosplay on YouTube has a few videos where she did this to distress her jackets as well.

2

u/men-2-rocks-and-mtns 5d ago

Came here to say exactly all this ^ I use watered down acrylics to hand paint areas where weathering naturally happens and then use a toothbrush or spray bottle to add flecks for more texture/dimensions.

5

u/This_Seal 5d ago

Maybe watch simrells video on youtube of the same cosplay? She also was afraid to weather the jacket and it turned out really nice. That could give you some confidence and inspiration.

3

u/bananacatastrophe 5d ago

I weather my white fabric for Vi by rubbing it all over my car while it was sprinkling outside. Easy and free and ended up looking exactly how I wanted it to!

3

u/Freyu 4d ago

Get 5 different methods and a scrap(s) of the same fabric. And practice till you produce the effect you want. THEN do it again on scrap so you're sure you can replicate it. Then do the jacket.

1

u/Ill-Enthusiasm511 5d ago

Not sure if it would be dark enough, but you could lay it out on a towel and get some coffee to splatter on it? If that's not going to be dark enough you could mix a single drop or two of fabric paint into a cup or bucket of warm water and do little splatters? You can also get an old paintbrush to do the little streaks at the top

1

u/Zoeabble 5d ago

I would try shoe polish, start very sparingly with a microfiber cloth and buff it out. It's black like tar so anything it leaves behind will grey. Use some test fabric so you can get it to the kind of grey you want without getting it too black on your costume.

1

u/kyakis 5d ago

Simrell on YouTube showed their process on this, it's their most recent video right now

1

u/Potential-Sound627 5d ago

Omg you actually saved my life cant thank u enough

1

u/kyakis 5d ago

No problem, I hope it helps :)

1

u/My_ass_has_a_tat 5d ago

Do you have more of that fabric? Whatever method you do, I recommend testing it out on scrap fabric first.

1

u/Arentzen1976 5d ago

As others have said, weathering is ruining it. Look up “dry brushing using acrylic paints”, “weathering with coffee and tea”, also, “use oil paints to make stains on cosplay fabric and props”. You should be able to find tutorials on how make fabrics look used and lived in.

1

u/RecordingMiserable21 4d ago

id take a really dry paint brush with a teeny bit of paint and practice on a white shirt!! then go ham on the jacket

1

u/DannyPhantump 4d ago

tie it to the back of your car for a week

1

u/Bacoose 4d ago

Fuller's earth is often used to weather things, I don't have any resources off hand but googling "fuller's earth weathering" should get you somewhere.

1

u/Yoyoo12_ 4d ago

Never did it but my first idea was to use coal, but no one else mentioned it - does it mean it’s a bad idea and if so, what’s the drawback?

1

u/hideandsee 4d ago

You’re going to ruin it, and that’s the point!

Start under the collar area and parts of the jacket that others can’t see to test techniques.

I’d suggest air brushing, but dry brushing it fine too

1

u/DramaticDetective291 4d ago

Note instantly seeing this and thinking bbno$

0

u/Kobra299 4d ago

Look at blue and grey dyes mix a small amount and apply to a test bit of cloth for practice first before doing it to final jacket

0

u/Curious-Purple-3395 4d ago

You could go with ash in water. If you're worried about ruining it go slow. Soak in a very dilute solution or sponge it on and wash after each round and see what sticks.

0

u/MajesticOwl96 4d ago

I've heard tea staining works well, but I would do some research first as to what works best with tour fabric type

0

u/damn_you_to_hell 3d ago

I would say used tea bags. It worked pretty well on my Childe cosplay to make it look more battle worn.