Restore the "new" leather squeak?

[OrangeCat]

I got a 90's vintage North Beach leather coat for my girlfriend. The coat is made of calf skin leather so the coat always produces the attractive squeak when worn.

Unfortunately, she once wore it in the rain and she had no umbrella with her, so the rain ruined the coat, the coat lost the waxy finish and some color. And we noticed that the squeak is also significantly reduced.

We are planning to have the coat professionally restored, but most of the leather shops told us that the squeak cannot be restored once broken in.

Is there any way to make the coat squeak again?

Edited April 8, 2020 by OrangeCat

[MikeRock]

Hmmmmmm     An Orange Cat looking for something that squeaks :))  Here mousie, mousie !

[Northmount]

I notice that with leather jackets that I have, that stiffer leather produces the squeak.  Soft leather ones I have, have never squeaked.

Tom

[OrangeCat]

On 4/11/2020 at 11:06 PM, Northmount said:

I notice that with leather jackets that I have, that stiffer leather produces the squeak.  Soft leather ones I have, have never squeaked.

Tom

So can I restore that kind of sound?

[Northmount]

13 hours ago, OrangeCat said:

So can I restore that kind of sound?

I'm making some assumptions here because I've never tried this.  I prefer jackets or coats that are not squeaky as the noise interferes with my hearing.  I have substantial hearing loss so any additional noise hampers being able to hear and communicate.

If for instance, alcohol will remove and stiffen the leather, then I would suppose spraying the grain side of the leather with a lacquer based finish (which is a hard finish versus those that may have some oils in them) would bring back some of that squeak.  This is just an educated guess.  You will need to test it out.  Might be able to do this on the inside bottom jacket hem.  

I have belt that is finished on both side with a lacquer finish.  It squeaks like a saddle.  It's far enough from my ears that it doesn't annoy me like a jacket or coat does, especially when in the car trying to talk with someone.

Tom