Cleaning Before Dying

[Eternal Custom Designs]

Can I just use water to sponge clean my leather before dying with fiebings spirit dye...I don't wear gloves and was told I should.. if I do idyll be more so a sweat fest..anyways...how long should the dye dry before buffing and glueing....also when I blue should I lay something heavy on the piece overnight to ensure a great hold?? Thanks for helping the new guy!!! God bless!!

Rob-B

[Northmount]

If the leather is tooled, and you get it wet, you will lose some of the crispness of the tooling.

If you wash your hands frequently or at least keep wiping frequently with a clean cloth, that will help a lot.

Cheap grades of leather, you may need to clean before working with it, so could use liquid saddle soap, or possibly oxalic acid to clean it. Then allow to dry somewhat, and place in a plastic bag for casing.

If you do get some oil or waxy stuff on the leather while working with it, use deglazer to clean it off. Dye thinners (alcohol) will work some too if you don't have or like the deglazer.

For gluing, depends a lot on the type of glue you are using. Clamping or weights help with slow setting glues. With contact cement, roll it with a roller so you get lots of pressure to squeeze it together. Doesn't need to be clamped or weighted down.

Tom

[Eternal Custom Designs]

Thanks tom...I think I've got the gluing down a bit...I'm learning...now I've just got to sand the edges a bit more, burnish and dye...have you ever used a 3m block to sand with...wish me luck!!! Thanks again!!!

Rob-B

[Eternal Custom Designs]

Also do u mean just rubbing alcohol?

[Cyberthrasher]

Also do u mean just rubbing alcohol?

Yeah, Isopropyl will work well for finger oils. If it's really heavy, you could try Denatured Alcohol - but use it with caution because it can seriously dry out the leather if you use too much (alcohol sucks up moisture and evaporates it).

For sanding your edges - if you're going for a flat edge, use a block. If you're going for a rounded edge, use your fingers and cup the paper.

[Eternal Custom Designs]

Awesome...thanks

[Countryboy976]

I have found that alcohol, acid etc all dry out the leather. You can add neatsfoot oil to put oil back into the leather (you should do this anyway). However, I use pure lemon juice. It cleans the leather really well while leaving the oils in the leather. It also IMO allows better penetration of dyes and makes the leather much more flexable if you are wet forming.