Uv Protectant For Leather

[meg1517]

Hi...

We are having trouble with our dye colors fading. Has anyone used a UV protectant spray for leather? If so what kind of success have you had....

Does anyone have any success making their own custom colors that stay stable over a long period of time.

Last question....what are some good water based pigment dyes?

Look forward to hearing anyones experiences.....we are at a loss right now.

Thanks

Meg

[electrathon]

Last question....what are some good water based pigment dyes?

I think you answered your own question here. If you want it to last, use solvent bassed products.

Aaron

[CitizenKate]

I did some experimentation a while back with a product made for leather auto upholstery called Meguiar's Gold Class Rich Leather Cleaner/Conditioner. It contains a sunblock, so I dyed a couple of pieces of veg-tan with Angelus turquoise (any blue-ish colors are notorious for fading quickly in sunlight), treated one of them with the Mequiar's, left the other untreated (for comparison), and set them both in a sunny window for a couple of months. They both got exactly the same exposure to direct sunlight, which was several hours a day.

This photo shows the results. The patch treated with Meguiar's is the one on the left. Although some fading occurred in both patches, the one with the Meguiar's had much less fading.

I also ran similar tests with different finishes - wax, lacquer, and acrylic, comparing pieces of dyed leather with a finish and without it to see how much fading occurs compared to an untreated patch. None of these finishes has any added UV protection, but they do differ in the amount of fading that occurs to the color from exposure to UV radiation.

I was very surprised to find the acrylic (i.e., supershene, satin shene, resolene, etc.) was the finish type that offers the most protection against fading due exposure to UV radiation. The wax finish seems to have made it worse! The lacquer finish had no apparent effect that I could tell.

I've also done similar experiments with water-based dyes, and though they, too, will fade in sunlight (especially the more bluish colors), they hold up better than the spirit dyes do in general.

Kate

[cem]

Thankyou for that Kate and also Meg for the original question I was trying to find out the same thing. I've come across these products but they don't specfically say if you can use them on leather or not ( Lascaux UV Protect, Super Seal by Creative Imaginations and Krylon UV-Resistant Clear Coating ). I was going to get one and try it on some scraps, it will probably be the Krylon as I don't think I can get the others where I live. If anyone else wants to give them a try at least one of them should be available at most big art shops.

Cheers,

Clair

[Skald]

Isn't Fiebing's Resolene supposed to be somewhat UV-resistant? This is at least what I heard. Or is it just "UV-resistant" like a coat of anything you use?

I am about to make some leather helmets with carvings for pure decorative purposes soon, and intend to use some acrylic dyes I have, and use Resolene on top of that. And it would be a bit sad if they faded completely in just a year or so, if they happened to stand in the sunlight an hour or two a day - so I find the topic quite interesting too.

[Anet du Toit]

Does anyone know what I can use so that the natural veg don't darken with time? I did some faces on veg but i want them to stay the same. Thanx a lot

[jinrui73]

Does anyone know what I can use so that the natural veg don't darken with time? I did some faces on veg but i want them to stay the same. Thanx a lot

Read Kates' response, it applies to your question.

-jerry

[Heligan]

Very helpful thread (wish I had seen it sooner).

So I carve, dye and apply the Meguiar's Gold Class Rich Leather Cleaner/Conditioner, can any finish then go over to add waterproofing?

Edited March 15, 2012 by Heligan