Smoothing out a leather IWB holster?

[DJ Skillz]

I'm sending in my application for my TX CHL this weekend, and I picked up a new IWB holster for the occasion. The holster is comfortable, except for the rough leather on the back that rubs against my side:



Is there anything I can do to smooth out the area that is sits above my waistline? I'm sure wearing it more often will help, but I'd rather speed up the process if I can.

Thanks!!

[JLM Ranger]

We owned horses years ago and for rough leather I used saddle soap. Worked great. Just an idea.

[DJ Skillz]

Okay, so Saddle Soap didn't really work for me, at least not initially. I worked it into the leather, and it made it did make it nice and smooth. Unfortunately, now the leather was smooth and sticky, and it stuck to my skin when I walked, which was even worse.

So I took a little dish soap and tried to work out as much of the excess Saddle Soap I could, and the leather ended up grittier than I began with.

So I went to Home Depot and picked up some 400-grit sandpaper. I sanded for a few minutes, and started to see an improvement. I then decided to add just a very small amount of the saddle soap and sand on top of it.

What a difference!! It's super smooth now. I could probably work at it a little longer and make it better, maybe with some finer grit. The only downside is it made my fingers black.



Now it's time to wear it around a while and see how it does.

[Badmusic]

I use Dr. Jackson's hide rejuvenator. (Tandy Leather)
Then I sweat into the leather for six months during a hot California summer while ignoring the rash and callouses that develop. After that, I hardly notice leather IWB holsters.