Hi all,
This is my first post. I'm a knifemaker and gun collector, which I think is a path that leads inevitably to leatherworking
This forum is an amazing wealth of information. I wish I came across this website about 5-6 years ago when I first started messing around with leather, as that would've saved on some mistakes!
Anyway, the reason for my post. I'm making several IWB holsters as Christmas gifts, based on a holster that I made years ago. Now, my own holster I never bothered dying, because 1) I didn't know better at the time, and 2) I'm not bothered by the aesthetic of the thing as long as it functions the way it's supposed to. But gifts have too look nice! So I chose to dye the pieces... like many novices, I went to Tandy Leather. Like many novices, I was persuaded to use the Eco-Flo dyes rather than Fiebings (which seem to have a better reputation, especially for this kind of work). Now, I'm satisfied with the job that Eco-Flo has done coloring, but I'm worried about dye rubbing off on clothes and body parts (these will be IWB holsters). So after googling and finding this forum with all the wonderful information it has, I figured I should use resolene over the dye. Now the reason I'm posting is because no post that I came across talked about this specifically (I went through a lot, but I might have missed something) and I really want to nail the procedure down. I don't really want to screw anything up.
So:
1) I would need to buff the pieces to remove excess dye. i've done that. Some dye still comes off. Should I keep buffing until nothing comes off or is that normal until I apply the top coat?
2) I was thinking about dipping into resolene. I need to coat inside and out, and I think I read somewhere on here that applying resolene (which is water-based) over Eco-Flo should not be done with a brush or dauber because the mechanical disturbance will cause the dye to run more... I'm not worried about the outside of the holster, but I'm worried that if I get into the inside of the holster, I'll smear the dye all over the place (though I'm not really sure why I'm worried about that, it's not like anyone will be looking at the inside of the holster much). Or would sponging/daubing the resolene on work just fine? Oh, and I don't have an airbrush.
So anyway, in order to dip into resolene, I would dilute it 50/50 with water, dip, pull out, let dry. Does that procedure sound correct? Or would that end in ugly disaster, because Eco-Flo is water-soluble?
3) As an alternative, I was thinking that I could dip the holster into water, let as much of the dye run off as possible, touch up areas that lose color with Fiebings (I've now also purchased Fiebings for future projects), and then do the resolene procedure. Or am I just being paranoid?
Sorry for going on and on like this, but I'm really trying to get this right. Thanks in advance for your help!
