How to make new look...not new?

Not really mate - chuck a load of mud on it and put it outside in the elements. Or wear it to open airsoft days at local sites and roll around a lot!

The guys in 1940 didn't run around in kit that was 70+ years old. It was all new! If you just want it looked used buddy, just use it. The rolling around in the mud is a win. Play one weekend and will start to look the part

The easiest and best way is just to wear it. Getting stuff to look artificially mucked up is surprisingly hard to do.

And never wash it.

Actualy wash it....and then never wash it again

I don't regularly wash my kit, but I do tend to wash my kit (dry cleaning for my BD!) once every 2 years or so - as I've found that if a piece of fabric gets creased, and the crease stays, then that creased edge is very prone to getting excessive amounts of wear on it, and large tears/gashes can open up where the fabric has been worn thin. Washing helps get rid of the old creases (and lets new creases be formed elsewhere!)

WW2 soldiers didn't run around in 70 year old kit, but also they most likely didn't look parade ground fresh after a month in the field. New shiney kit always annoys me, but that's the designer/costumer in me speaking.

A couple of options to speed the process up include...

Spray with lemon juice and / or very diluted bleach solution and hang in the sun
Cheese grater / sand paper / wire brush the edges or cuffs, pockets, elbows and knees
Airbrush on brown or black stains - you can use car spray but it smells and it is usually a bit too aggressive for this kind of thing
Stonewash or tumbledry it (assuming your other half doesn't kill you for putting stones or a bag of bolts in the washer !)
Rub it on concrete - your patio or even a brick wall
Wash it multiple times before you use it - then usually I agree with the never wash it again rule. Pre-washing will help loosen and relax the fabric and remove any coatings
Sew in patches or create false rips and sew them up
Wax for jackets like Barbour or Belstaff can create an excellent oily dirty sheen if you apply on areas that would naturally get such treatment like elbows, knees and cuffs

Generally you probably want to aim for some combination of faded/worn/ripped/stained to whatever degree you feel comfortable.

I wash my uniforms all the time, after every game. Before my first game, i never had to roll around in mud but my kit still looked lived in for weeks. I generally don't like to keep real dirt in and around the house. So the secret is tan and brown spray paint, pastel chalk, dull coat, sand paper everything. I treat my gear like i'm weathering a 1:1 scale model kit. Looks the part, you have control on how weathered you want it, and at the same time, you keep em clean. I add a little bleach the first 2 or three times i washed my uniforms. Never iron them. That being said, during actual games, i do roll around in the muck if the action at the time requires it.

i use a lot of my stuff daily to walk the dog's, especially camo stuff and boots, nobody knows what type of trousers you are wearing if they are tucked in wellies. may look odd but slouching around the house in bdu and some kit i wont walk the dogs in really help's.

If you like you can come around to my house and dig and lay the new patio I want whilst in kit. That'll work.

And don't fuggin' wash it!!!

having yet to attend my first WW2 (damn its taking forever to come around) my shiny new FG look great and i know i need to muck it up a bit, But the craftmanship and make of the tailoring is so damn good compared to the crap we wear today it seems a shame. But i also know if i turn up with shiny new stuff i am going to stick out like a sore thumb.
So mucked up it will be, I have put the greys out on the line and just left them their for a few days, a battering from the rain and wind should help a bit then roll in some grass and dirt and back onto the line for more rain and wind to wash to dirt away, but not completely, then let it dry and see how it looks.

I'm not sure it need to be completely covered in mud, just look a bit lived in. On wools in particular you may well find that all your lovingly applied mud just dries to the same colour as the rest of the uniform....

Just wearing the stuff helps, get it a bit creased and bit baggy. Brand new webbing tends to stand out more and benefits from a bit of manual weathering, especially metal items which can be hammered around, dragged over stones etc.

Cheers
Martin

after an event or two in the shite it will be fine, dont worry to much about looking "new" a few guys try and keep their kit that way

mine gets stipped off, dried out, and dumped in a bag till next time, its always creased and dirty oh and i tend to pong as well, weather thats the kit or me, i cant tell

Actually, crumpling a uniform up and shoving it in a bag is a really good way of getting it creased. Just make sure the stuff is dry before hiding it away unless you like scraping mould off My uniforms go on a hanger in a wardrobe though.

Cheers
Martin

Ive just rememberd, after le chateu, i put my greys in my back, but they were still covered in black forrest gateaux. I never got round to cleaning them off, its going to be grim when i open my bag at the fuhrer game .

And don't fuggin' wash it!!!

Actually washing cotton repro kit does make it look older sooner - it starts to wear out on the edges because it is made of lighter weight fabric than originals. It does get rid of the thick crud but the incrained grubiness tends to stay behind (unless you youse a stain remover which I do occasionally because my M41 and M43 are actually my day to day coats) and hey, there's always more mud somewhere to roll in (and it's free).